Living The Odds
by Ellana-san
Summary: Collection of prompts/oneshot about my Oria-verse which directly follows Kicking The Odds. There is no chronological order just a handful of parent hayffie stories. I'm moving them over from Have A Drink Sweetheart but I'm still taking prompts about Oria )
1. Of Ribbons and Princesses

_Those one shots are set in my "Kicking The Odds" verse. They are mainly hayffie parent stories and aren't set in any chronological order. I am moving them over from my prompt collection. I'm still taking prompts for Oria either in review or on tumblr._

* * *

 ** _Living The Odds_**

* * *

Prompt : I don't suppose, under the assumption that you're taking prompts, or at least fragments of prompts, that you'd do another post-Mockingjay one with a happy ending? That digs into the future of Haymitch, Effie, Katniss, and Peeta? Just with all of them? :D

 _ **And**_

prompt : I hope you don't mind, but can you try making one wherein Haymitch and Effie post mockingjay with a little toddler running around(their child)? :))

 _ **Of Ribbons and Princesses**_

"Orianna, no running in the house!" Effie called out from the kitchen where she was setting the table. The five years old little girl ran into the kitchen, obviously not listening to her mother's warnings, and immediately came to hide behind her legs.

"Shhhh." the girl instructed Effie, a finger pressed to her tiny lips.

Haymitch appeared on the threshold a few seconds later, breathless. She should have known. He was usually the first to break her rules. "Where's the little demon?" he asked, making a show of opening cupboards all over the kitchen. Effie smiled indulgently, watching him pretend not to hear the loud giggles. "Sweetheart, I think we lost the baby." he said at last, in a dramatic tone.

The giggles only increased and Oria leaned heavily against her legs, obviously in raptures over the trick she was playing on him.

"Well, I certainly hope not." Effie folded her arms, playing along. "What will Aunt Katniss and Uncle Peeta think when they get here with strawberry cake only to find out there's no one to eat it?"

Haymitch smirked. "I will eat the cake. All the cake. There won't be _any_ _crumb_ left."

"No!" Oria exclaimed, horrified. She stepped from behind Effie and shook her fingers at Haymitch like her mother always did when she was scolding her. "You can't eat _all the cake_ , Daddy! It's _rude_!"

Haymitch rolled his eyes but couldn't hide his amusement. "Look what you did to my girl, Effie." he sighed, scooping the child up and tossing her easily on his shoulder which prompted even more laughter. "She's teaching me manners, now."

"With reasons." Effie pointed out, placing the last glass on the table. "You don't have any."

"Don't I?" he teased, wrapping an arm around her waist and bringing her close.

"Group hug!" the little girl shouted, squirming a little to be able to hug both her mother and her father at the same time. She was always so full of energy, Effie mused, stroking the small arm locked around her neck that was threatening to strangle her sooner rather than later.

"Alright." Effie said, pressing a kiss on Oria's cheek. "Enough hugging. They will be here in a matter of minutes, go wash your hands and, while you're at it, fetch the red ribbon from your room, your hair is all spiked up."

Oria pouted when Haymitch put her back on the ground. "Do I have to?" She gave him her best puppy eyes and Effie silently counted to three. Sure enough, at three, Haymitch looked at her with a pleading expression that rivaled their daughter's but Effie only lifted an eyebrow and he shrugged. "If Mommy says you do, you do, baby girl."

Oria wasn't pleased with that but she still headed up to her room, shuffling her feet.

"She says _jump_ and you ask _how high_." Effie teased, more or less seriously. Haymitch had been so insecure in the beginning that it was sweet to see how good a father he was, but she sometimes thought it a little unfair to be the only one insisting on some discipline.

"She gets bigger and bigger every day." Haymitch complained. "She will be eighteen soon and we will be _so_ old then, sweetheart."

She rolled her eyes, well used to his theatrics by now, and pecked his cheek on her way to the sink. "I don't think you should worry about that just yet."

The back door opened on Katniss and Peeta – who never bothered to knock – and Effie had barely time to greet them before the stomping sound of tiny feet barreled down the stairs.

"No running in the house!" Effie reminded Oria to no avail.

The red ribbon flew in the air when the little girl threw it at her father to rush to the very pregnant belly of Katniss. "Auntie!" Oria shrieked in delight. Katniss, for some reason, had always been very popular with Effie's daughter. Effie suspected it had much to do with the 'secret games' Haymitch and Katniss organized for her in the woods when Effie wasn't looking. Did they really think she didn't know they were teaching her daughter how to hunt and survive in the wild? She couldn't tell, it wasn't something they ever talked about. Effie wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea but so many bad things had happened to her, she knew those skills could help Oria someday, so… "Is the baby out yet? Can I play with him?"

"Not yet, kid." Katniss smiled, ruffling Oria's hair. The little girl was very busy pressing her ear against Katniss' stomach in hope of hearing the baby.

Effie and Haymitch exchanged a fond glance. She was so cute… If wasn't because she was her daughter but Effie really thought Orianna was the cutest child to ever walk the earth.

"Can I have a hug too or should I be jealous ?" Peeta teased, after wisely putting the cake away on the kitchen counter. Peeta obviously got his hug because it was no secret that, one day, when she was old enough, Oria intended to marry him regardless of Katniss and their unborn child. Haymitch had turned green when she had proudly stated as such one night during dinner. Effie found it very funny.

She took the ribbon from Haymitch before he lost it or, worse, fed it to his geese. "Come here, Oria."

The girl looked at what she was holding and made a face. "That's for princess! Princess are silly. I want a braid like Auntie."

"Prince _sses_ aren't silly." Effie chided her. "Who told you that?" She glared at Haymitch who wasn't even trying to hide his amusement.

"You can have a braid _and_ a ribbon." Katniss said, holding out her hand for the red strap of satin. "Come here." She sat on one of the kitchen chair with obvious relief and braided Oria's hair quickly and efficiently before securing it in place with the ribbon. "There, as pretty as a princess."

" _You_ don't have a ribbon." Oria pointed out, pulling on her new braid to admire it.

"Auntie isn't well-mannered enough to be a princess." Peeta said in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Auntie can still kick Uncle's butt, pregnant or not." Katniss retorted.

"Katniss, language." Effie scolded her. Really, she sometimes had the sensation she was living with a bunch of five years old instead of only one.

"See?" Peeta triumphed, pretending not to notice the glare his wife was sending his way.

"Daddy says Mommy is a princess and Mommy is very polite." Oria concurred seriously.

"Daddy says a lot of stupid things." Haymitch snorted.

"Truer words had never been spoken." Effie replied.

"How's your couch, Haymitch?" Katniss teased. "Because I think you're sleeping on it tonight."

"Nah." he smirked. "When Effie's angry, the whole neighborhood knows it."

"True enough." Peeta laughed.

Effie huffed but didn't lowered herself to answer. She watched them all as they continued to banter, her family. She loved them all so dearly: the children, her daughter and Haymitch. All safe and sound, all accounted for. She could never ask for anything else.


	2. Bug Scare

Prompt : i'd love more oria and daddy H pliz! =)

 _Oria featured in Chapter 43 :) Also if you like this one, there was another prompt asking for a Oria backstory and it kind of went out of hand so watch out for a separate one shot :)_

 _ **Bug Scare**_

"A bit on the left." he instructed, tilting his head to get a better view.

"That way?" Effie asked, leaning slightly on her left so that Peeta's latest painting would hang up straight. She had fallen in love with it at first sight and the boy had gifted her with it like he so often did. Haymitch could swear their whole house was decorated with his paintings.

"Maybe to the right now." he said absent-mindedly from his seat on the couch.

Effie was perched on a stool, in front of the chimney, but that didn't stop her from glaring at him over her shoulder. "Why do I have the sneaking suspicion you are ogling me and not at all being helpful?"

He denied it, waving carelessly. "I'm not ogling you, I'm ogling your ass."

"Language." she clucked her tongue. "Do you want a repeat of the 'shit' situation?"

He suppressed a smirk. Oria had gone through a phase, the previous year, when she repeated absolutely everything. She had taken great delight in repeating Haymitch's "shit" all over the place, to Effie's upmost mortification. It had lasted for months until they managed to break the habit – Haymitch bribed her with sweets but Effie didn't need to know that.

"She's upstairs." He rolled his eyes. "Relax, would you?"

"I will relax when you take your mind out of the gutter to help me." she replied.

"You shouldn't wear skirts that tight if you don't want me to get distracted, sweetheart." Haymitch found the whole thing very unfair. She was the one parading around in skin-tight clothes and _he_ wasn't supposed to get sidetracked?

"I love when you're distracted." she grinned, glancing back over her shoulder. "I just want the painting on the wall first."

Suddenly more interested in the whole business, he leaned forward. "Okay, just a bit to the right and that should do it." Maybe they could send Oria to Katniss' for the day…

"Are you sure that…" Effie started only to be cut off by a blood-curling scream.

" _DADDY, HELP ME! DADDY!_ "

Haymitch was out of the couch and half-way up the stairs before he even realized he had moved. Fear like he hadn't known in years clenched his guts, his hands itched for a knife that wasn't there anymore and he cursed Effie to hell and back for forcing him to put it away. Oria would get herself hurt, she had argued, what if she went for a hug and got cut on his ever-present knife? Yeah, well…

He was in the corridor when he wondered who would attack his house? Not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things because they were dead. _Nobody_ touched his family and lived and the person who was desperate enough to try would rue the day they had come close to his daughter. Yet, the thought was there. Who would it be? Someone from the District who wanted to make the former escort pay or someone from the Capitol who wanted to make the former victor bleed?

Another cry for help made him run faster and he barged in Oria's room, ready for a fight. His eyes toured the bedroom and found nothing but a little girl standing on her small children-sized table and an open window. Effie's echoing footsteps and Oria's relieved call for her mommy made him rush to the window, he surveyed the street below but it was all empty. All he could hear was the faint honking of geese. The geese should have honked harder, he thought, turning around in time to see Effie scooping the girl in her arms and holding her protectively against her chest.

Effie was pale and shaking, their eyes met and he saw his own terror reflected in hers. Haymitch could barely breathe.

"What happened, sweetie?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady and failing in an abysmal fashion. "Are you hurt? Did someone try to hurt you? Tell me, baby, tell Mommy…"

Haymitch gripped the edge of the chest of drawers, heart racing so fast he was seeing black dots dancing in front of his eyes. Anger, his long time friend, surged through his veins. He would hunt whoever had tried to hurt his baby and he would make them regret the day they were born… He would…

"There was a bug." Oria said, looking uncertainly from Effie to him, obviously picking up on the tension.

Effie's shoulders slackened in relief.

Haymitch's whole train of thoughts came to an abrupt stop. "You shouted bloody murder for _a bug_?" he hissed through clenched teeth.

"Haymitch." Effie warned at once. He ignored her.

"Answer me!" he screamed, barely registering Oria's cringing or the way she clung harder to her mother.

"It was a scary bug." Oria sniffed pitifully, her lips starting to wobble in what would surely lead to a crying fit.

She couldn't understand, the sane part of his mind whispered in his mind, he had never been angry with her before, not really, not like that. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault and yet Haymitch couldn't control himself. Panic and long repressed fears that had only been slumbering climbed back to show their ugly head and he was drowning in them because he didn't know what he would do if he were to lose her. Or Effie for that matter, but Oria… Oria was innocent and defenseless and losing her had been his worst fear since the moment he had seen her on an ultrasound scanner screen.

"You _don't_ scream like that for a bug, Orianna!" he growled dangerously. "You don't scream like that unless someone is trying to kill you, you stupid child! You…"

"Haymitch." It wasn't Effie's voice but her hand on his chest that stopped him. He hadn't realized he had stepped so close. He didn't like the way Effie was standing, on her side, a hand on his chest, mostly shielding their daughter with her own body. "Haymitch, stop. She didn't know better."

"She should have!" he argued but his anger deflated slightly when he saw Oria burying her face in her mother's neck.

"You're frightening her." Effie said calmly. "You're frightening our daughter. Stop. Come back. It's over. Come back."

'Come back' was what he had said to her in the beginning, when her nightmares were still so bad she woke up screaming. They had mostly faded now but he occasionally had to use that trick. 'Come back' meant it was all a dream. 'Come back' meant it was safe. 'Come back' meant someone was there to catch you.

He forced his breathing to slow down. His eyes never left Effie's. She was an anchoring point. He needed one.

"I thought…" He let the sentence unfinished. He didn't want to finish it in this house. It was their home. Their home shouldn't be tainted by remnants from the war.

"I know. I thought the same thing." she closed her eyes and breathed out slowly, rocking the five years old against her chest. Oria was silently crying, it was worse than if she had been wailing. Wailing, he had learned how to comfort but silent crying? "Step outside for a moment, Haymitch, you're not calm yet."

His first instinct was to argue but he realized she was right. He wasn't still angry that wasn't the problem. His shaking hands were. He nodded sharply once and got out of Oria's room. He didn't go far. Four steps away and he was sliding against the wall, gathering his head in his quivering hands.

The danger might not have been real but the fear was and it was all-encompassing. Panic was all he could feel. A blinding red panic that brought him back to the arena, the Games and the rebellion. It made him thirsty for a liquor he had not touched in five years, not since Oria's birth. It made him…

"Haymitch." Hands clasped his and squeezed, bringing them away from his face. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, long enough for Effie to comfort their girl apparently. She was crouched in front of him, a frown on her still pale face. They wouldn't sleep a lot that night, he figured, nightmares would keep both of them up.

"I'm sorry." he rasped out. "I didn't mean to shout."

"I know. I explained it to her, it's alright." She squeezed his hands again and he felt dejected. There she was, taking care of their child, taking care of him… Who would take care of her?

"No, it's not." he shook his head. "I scared her. I lost control. I…"

"Haymitch, if you hadn't, I would have." she cut in. "It's our fault, though. We should have… _taught_ her not to scream that way for something not life-threatening."

"Didn't know we had to." he mumbled, letting his head fall on the wall behind him. It was probably a good thing that she felt safe enough to deem a mere bug _that_ scary. It meant she wasn't scared for her life like he had been growing up but… "She plays with bugs all the time. She goes to the woods with Katniss and…" he sighed.

"Yes, apparently, that bug was very big and very weird." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "If I find it, I shall swat it myself." Adrenaline must have taken a toll on her too.

"I need a drink." he said, rubbing his face.

"No, you don't." _That_ was definitive and she eyed him with enough suspicion that he knew she would be watching him like a hawk for the next few days. It would probably be best anyway. He knew where to get alcohol if he really wanted to. Not that he _wanted_ to but… Sometimes, things could go out of control. "You need to go talk to your daughter."

There was always something magical in that association of words : _your daughter_. It was a gift from Effie. Something precious and unexpected he would always be grateful for and that he would cherish until his dying day. Still, he was always afraid she had made the wrong choice in trusting him with her child.

"Did I let you down?" he asked, because he wanted a truthful answer.

"No." she replied, softly. Her hand cupped his cheek and he leaned into her touch. "She was scared, she called for you, she didn't even think about it. That's all it was : a frightened little girl calling for her father. We blew this out of proportions."

"Because we're messed up, sweetheart." he said, covering her hand with his.

"Because we love her more than we love anything else and we both would kill whoever tries to hurt our baby without a second thought." she shrugged. "I think it has more to do with us being parents, actually."

He searched her eyes for a second and finally allowed himself to relax. If he hadn't lost his temper, she would have. Effie could be deadly scary too when she was afraid. "I never wanted to scare her."

"I know." Effie said. "I told you, I explained it to her. It's alright."

"No…" he avoided her eyes. "I wanted her to never be scared of me. _Ever_." He shrugged. "What if she hates me now? What if…"

"She doesn't hate you." she said, shifting so she could sit next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"I don't want her to look at me with fear." He had trouble swallowing. "What if… What if she looks at me and I see fear?" Like so many children had done before her? He couldn't bear it if his own child looked at him that way.

"You won't." Effie promised. "I don't think _you_ scared her, Haymitch. It was you being terrified, rather. You're her father, she didn't know you were human too." She kissed his cheek and got to her feet before outstretching a hand to him. "Come on, you both need a hug."

He took her hand and let her haul him to his feet and then to Oria's room. He didn't let go when he stepped in, taking in the five years old sitting at the small table, fiddling with one of her colored pencils – cause, _of course_ , if Peeta was an artist, she _had_ to be too because she fully intended to marry him at some point.

"'M sorry, Daddy." she mumbled. Her eyes were red and puffy, it broke Haymitch's heart.

" _I_ 'm sorry, baby girl." he corrected her, releasing Effie's hand to pick the child up. Oria immediately flung her arms around his neck and clung to his chest with her small legs in a vicious grip. Little monkey, he thought, with so much love he could swear his heart was going to burst. "Daddy's sorry." he repeated, just to be sure she got it. "I shouldn't have shouted."

"Mommy says you were scared because I got scared because of the stupid bug." she sniffed, tightening his grip on his neck. "I'm sorry I scared you, Daddy."

"It's okay." He sat on the bed so she could sit in his lap – and not try to strangle him like she seemed to have her mind set on doing. He looked up to find Effie leaning against the doorframe and patted the space next to him. That wasn't a conversation he wanted to have on his own. She came to sit with them and was immediately attacked in one of Oria's treasured 'group hug'. It really meant that the adults were all being throttled by surprisingly strong small arms but that was okay. They loved it anyway.

"Tell Daddy you're not angry with him, sweetie." Effie requested, after the child was done hugging. She brushed the hair that had come loose from the Katniss' style braid Oria always insisted on sporting away from her daughter's face.

Oria frowned and turned her pretty blue eyes, bluer than her mother's which was a feat in itself, to him. "I'm not angry with Daddy." she said quickly. "I'm sorry Daddy had scared."

" _Got_ scared." Effie corrected absent-mindedly, before pressing a kiss on her head. "There. Let's forget the whole thing. It's almost time for tea… Should we go see if Uncle Peeta has some cookies left?"

"Yeah!" Oria immediately jumped from Haymitch's knees but he grabbed her and put her back on the bed, scooting over slightly so she was nestled between Effie and him.

"In a second, baby girl." he said. "We need to… agree on some new rules first." Because he would be damned if something like that happened again. Effie nodded her assent and he went on, feeling out of his territory. It was Effie who usually thought of ground rules for both of them to follow. "You can't scream like that for a bug again, Oria."

"But it was a _scary_ bug, Daddy." The child sighed, a stubborn scowl on her face. "It was _huuuuge_ and green and…"

"I get it was a scary bug but a bug won't hurt you, baby girl." he objected, as calmly as he could. Thinking about it again was quickly bringing the fear back. "Next time, shout 'Daddy, there is a bug' or I don't know… Just… Don't scream for help like that if it's not important."

He had been afraid of seeing fear in her eyes, he should have been worried about her looking at him as if he was being stupid. "It was huge and scary. Maybe it wanted to _eat_ me."

Haymitch opened his mouth but Effie placed a hand on his shoulder, probably guessing that kind of pointless conversation could go on for a while. "What Daddy means is that you can't scream for help like that if you're not hurt or if someone isn't trying to hurt you."

"Or if you're really, really scared." he added, because he didn't want her to feel like she _wasn't allowed_ to call for help either. "Like… If you see a dog and you think it's mean… Well, no, don't call for help, it will only scare the dog and it will attack but…"

"Haymitch, you're not helping." Effie sighed. "Look, sweetie, next time there is a scary bug, you call for Daddy but you don't say 'help me', alright? But… Let's say you fall from a tree…"

"It's forbidden to climb trees." Oria piped, with a glance for her father who pointedly stared at the floor.

" _Funny_ , you should remember that now but not when you went to the woods with Daddy and Auntie Katniss last week." Effie chuckled. She wasn't amused though, Haymitch could tell.

Oria gasped. "It's a secret! How…"

"How did I know?" Effie lifted a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Because Mommy always knows. Now, if you fall from a tree, you can say 'help'. Do you understand the difference?"

Oria nodded her head. "I say help if I have a booboo."

"Or?" Haymitch prompted.

"Or if something is going to do a booboo to me. Is that right?" she said proudly, swinging her legs against the side of the bed in her excitement.

"Yes." Haymitch smirked, before ruffling her hair. "Clever girl."

"Can I have my cookies now?" she grinned, the incident already forgotten.

"If Uncle Peeta baked some, then yes, but no more than two." Effie smiled.

"Three?" the girl asked hopefully, with her best puppy eyes.

"Three." Haymitch agreed, ignoring Effie's pointed staring.

"Thank you, Daddy!" she cried, throwing herself at him, limbs flying. She hugged him for dear life and then she leaped from the bed and bolted from the room, laughter trailing in her wake.

"No running in the house!" Effie shouted even though that had never helped before.

Haymitch snorted and went to the window. He got there just in time to see Oria exit their home and run to their neighbors, three houses down. She didn't bother with knocking and went straight in through the back door that was always open. One day, the kids would learn to lock their door but that day wasn't today apparently.

Effie's arms sneaked around his waist and she pressed her body against his back. "It's a good life, we have." she said. "Better than I thought it could ever be."

"It is." he agreed, turning around so he could kiss her properly. It was the best life. A life he had never known he wanted but a life he enjoyed nonetheless. And being scared of losing it, as unreal as the incident had been, only made him realize how precious that life was to him. He had found meaning. He wasn't a hopeless drunk anymore but a father and that changed everything.

"I love you." she whispered, like she often did.

"I love you too." he answered, like he never did.

Well, not true. He had said it twice before. Once when Oria was born and another time, when Oria was still a baby and Effie had gone through a panic attack that had lasted hours because she had been afraid, suddenly, that someone would come and take her child away. He found it hard to say those words, less so with Orianna. With Orianna it was easy but not with Effie or anyone else. It was like the kids… He loved Katniss and Peeta like they were his own – well, Katniss mainly, he had mixed feeling about Peeta those days, it seemed to him each one of his girls was rather taken with the boy – but he could never admit that much to them.

Effie froze, frowned and then grinned, her hand playing with the first button of his shirt. "Should I phone the children and make sure they keep an eye on Oria for the rest of the afternoon?"

"You have the best ideas, sweetheart." he smirked before kissing her again.


	3. Chickenpox

_This isn't really a prompt but an Oria-idea popped into my head so…_

 _ **Chickenpox**_

A bag of groceries nestled in the crook of each arm, Effie hastened her pace towards the house. It was a warm summer day and she was particularly relived to reach the relative shade of their garden. The geese honked when she passed them by on her way to the backdoor and she promised herself to make sure they still had something to eat. They were resilient birds, as Haymitch often said, and they could probably manage without their owner for a few days but as much as she wasn't fond of the geese, Effie didn't want them to get hungry either. Oria would have a fit if one of her precious monstrosity died, she had named each and every one of them with princess worthy names. There even was a Effie in the midst, named in her honor, which had made Haymitch laugh for three days straight.

The kitchen door was blocked open by a heavy rock to let the cool air breathe in, that saved her from having to figure out a way to get in without dropping her bags. Usually, Haymitch went with her to help her carry the bags when they needed that much groceries but with Oria down with chickenpox… She found Katniss in the kitchen, her dark hair pinned high on her head, pouring iced tea in two tall glasses.

"Did you bring back the whole shop?" Katniss asked, a little incredulous, before hurrying over to relieve her of one of the bags.

"There was no food left in the house." Effie sighed putting the groceries on the kitchen table. "Was there any problem at all?"

Katniss shook her head and smiled at her, putting the two glasses on a tray. "I was about to bring them something to drink."

Something to drink would be welcomed indeed so Effie took two other glasses out of a cupboard. She put one in front of Katniss and sipped the sweet tea the girl had prepared with relief. Who knew Twelve could be so hot? The weather was apocalyptic in those parts of the country… Either you froze to death or you slowly cooked in your clothes.

"How's the baby?" she asked at last. Chickenpox, she had come to learn, wasn't fun.

"Big and clingy." Katniss made a face. "You are a saint, Effie."

Effie had to laugh at that. A six years old with chickenpox was hard but a forty-nine man with chickenpox? It was hell. She had warned him to stay away as soon as the doctor had told them what Oria was sick with, it was highly contagious and Haymitch hadn't had chickenpox when he was a child. It was a lot more unpleasant for grown-ups than it was for children. She had packed him a bag and sent him away to Katniss and Peeta's house. Peeta was exiled for the same reason, Katniss was the only one allowed in the house for now. As much as Effie and Katniss had tried to distract Oria, however, the child had been miserable, she had called and cried for her father. She had wanted no one but him. Haymitch's breaking point had been the moment when he had seen her waving at him sadly through the window. He had come back into the house – despite Effie's warnings – and had gone straight for Oria. No one was surprised when he had started to show the first signs of chickenpox after two days.

"I was thinking about my daughter." she corrected with a smile. "But I suppose your description of Haymitch is accurate."

Haymitch was a terrible, _terrible_ patient. Being bedridden wasn't good for his temper nor Effie's. He was frustrated and took it out on her, she wasn't a nurse and took her own frustration out on him too. She wasn't unsympathetic – well, in the beginning at least, she hadn't been unsympathetic – but she couldn't wait for him to be well again. She was half-convinced she was going to smother him with a pillow if she had to endure his whining much longer. It had been cute at first for someone so manly, who had fought in the Hunger Games and the rebellion, to be defeated by a childhood illness when blood didn't even make him blink, but cute had lasted approximately two days.

"Less big but not less clingy." Katniss joked and Effie nodded wisely. "I promised Peeta I would help him with a cake delivery so if you've got this…"

"Oh, yes! Yes, absolutely!" Effie waved her away. "Thank you so much for keeping an eye on them, dear, you were a real savior."

"Anytime." Katniss smiled and made her escape more quickly than a cake delivery required. Effie understood her hurry soon enough when Haymitch's grumpy shout of "Girl!" boomed throughout the house, quickly followed by the echo of Oria's high pitched voice. Effie didn't know what her daughter was saying but it seemed to be some kind of reminder that they weren't supposed to shout inside the house because Haymitch's next call was lower but not less imperious. Effie sighed and envied Katniss her freedom.

She took the time to put the groceries away before taking the tray up. After all, if Haymitch wanted something so badly, he could always come down and get it himself or even send Oria who was almost recovered. He wasn't feverish anymore, the doctor had grounded him to his bed because he was a stubborn old man who wanted to wander about with a highly contagious illness and would probably exhaust himself inside the house if they let him do as he pleased but, really, a trip down to the kitchen would certainly not kill him.

"Sweetheart, you're back!" he exclaimed, happily surprised, as soon as he saw her entering their bedroom. Perhaps, Effie thought, she should take more trips out of the house and ask Katniss to babysit him more often. If a mere two hours absence was enough for him to be pleasant again, she would certainly take a few trips to the shop in the next few days.

"Mommy!" Oria echoed, outstretching her little arms to her.

Effie put the tray down on the bedside table carefully, assessing the damage at the same time. Their bed had obviously been invaded by Oria, Haymitch was lost in an ocean of toys, dolls, stuffed animals… She took a look at his hands but the soft clothes she had wrapped around his hands and strapped to his wrists while he was sleeping were still there. Despite his best efforts, he hadn't managed to free his hands and she had forbidden Oria to help. She was tired of chiding him like a child each time she caught him scratching and his excuse according to which he already had a lot of scars and some new ones wouldn't change anything was quickly getting old.

She lifted her daughter and hugged her thigh. "Were you good for Auntie Katniss, sweetie?"

"Daddy didn't say please to Auntie!" Oria reported cheerfully, shaking her head at her father in mocked disappointment. "I told him it was rude."

"Bad Daddy." Effie clucked her tongue, whacking Haymitch playfully on the arm.

"You're a little traitor, baby girl." Haymitch snorted, before tapping Effie's skirt slowly so she would sit next to him on the bed. She did, keeping Oria in her lap. "Should I tell Mommy about what you did with her lipstick?"

Effie frowned. "Which lipstick?"

Oria made a guilty face and grabbed her stuffed bear, she pressed it against her chest and immediately pulled out the puppy eyes card. "It wasn't me, it was Mr Grrr…" she said, showing the toy to her. Mr Grrr had a suspicious dark sticky spot around the mouth. "Bears like honey… Auntie said so and there's no honey in the kitchen…" She looked at her with her wide blue eyes in completely fake contrition. "Sorry, Mommy…"

"You fed my brand new honey lipstick to your stuffed bear." Effie resumed quietly. She wasn't mad exactly, that wasn't something important enough to be mad about but she was… "I'm really disappointed. You know the rule about make-up."

"Daddy said I could." she looked down with wobbly lips. "He said… he said…" She wrinkled her brow in reflection.

"I said you could look, not touch." Haymitch quickly cut in, showing Effie his clothes wrapped hands. "What did you want me to do?"

"Hun Hun…" Oria shook her head, waving her little finger in front of Haymitch's face. "You said that would teach Mommy to go out and leave us in…" She looked up at Effie in interrogation. "What agny means?"

"Agony, I think." Effie corrected. "And that's what happens to Daddy when he upsets Mommy. Did you authorize her to play with my make-up, Haymitch?"

He cringed. "You heard the girl, bears like honey."

Probably sensing her mother was angry at her father rather than at her, Oria tapped Effie's arm pointedly. "Daddy asked me to scratch his face for him but I said no, no, no like you said."

"That's very good, Oria, but you knew you weren't allowed to play with my make-up." she argued.

"To be fair, I _did_ say she could." Haymitch sighed. "Come on, Princess. That was a stupid lipstick anyway. It tasted funny, it's better on the bear."

She glared at him. It was hard to look at the red spots on his face and took him seriously though. "Even so. She should have known better."

"But, but…" Oria scrambled for an excuse, playing absent-mindedly with Effie's bracelet. "But Daddy also asked me to cut the thingy…" she waved at the clothes wrapped around Haymitch's hands. "…with the scissors and I said no 'cause I'm not allowed to get the grownups scissors and my toy scissors would have broken."

"Haymitch, really!" Effie huffed, cradling Oria close in horror.

"I was _joking_." Haymitch rolled his eyes. "As she knows very well, the little demon." He tried to tickle her and she giggled and wriggled further away on the bed to escape him. "She's playing you, Effie."

Was she? A glance at her grinning daughter was enough to know that _yes_ , she was being played. "Well, that doesn't change anything. You are both grounded." she folded her arms on her chest. "No Uncle Peeta's cupcakes for a week, Oria. And Haymitch… No woods for the same length of time."

Oria breathed out a long suffering sigh but then she caught sight of the sweet tea Effie had brought up and raced up to her glass with a squeal of delight, her punition already forgotten.

"Grounding me, sweetheart?" Haymitch teased with a smirk. "There're other ways to punish me if I've been that naughty…"

She slapped his arms but smirked back. "Perhaps when you don't look like you just fell in a giant anthill."

He sighed – the same kind of sigh their daughter had just given her, she couldn't help but notice – and pulled her close so she had no choice but to lay on the bed with him. They got exactly two seconds of cuddling before Oria jumped on them, declaring a group hug.

Clingy was an appropriate description for the two of them.


	4. Cooking tips

prompt: it's oria s 1st bday and Haymitch was kinda careless with her, so effie shouted at him like and oria giggled at her mommy telling her daddy off and stuff?

And

Prompt idea because your writing is absolutely amazing: Hayffie cooking together and messing everything up because they are always sort of distracted, you know. ;)

 _ **Cooking Tips**_

Haymitch wandered in the kitchen, attracted by the weird noises, the one year old baby propped on his hip. Nap time was looming ahead and Oria was fussy and clingy.

"What are you doing, Princess?" he asked before he even caught sight of the chaos in the kitchen. Flour was everywhere, covering almost every flat surface, along with baking powder and other things he wasn't sure about. "Please tell me you're not cooking."

He flopped on a chair and put Oria on his lap. The baby wriggled and waved his little arms around, losing exactly no second in grabbing a wooden spoon forgotten on the table and popping it in her mouth. The leftover dough must have been as disgusting as it looked because she spat it out with a very displeased expression and used the spoon to whack against the table, all the while babbling in her usual gibberish.

Effie spared him a glare. "I am _baking._ "

"Even worse." he snorted.

"She will turn one next week, I need to learn how to bake a birthday cake." she argued.

"No, you need to pick up the phone and ask the boy to bake a birthday cake." he retorted. "It will save anyone food poisoning."

She glared again. "You think you are _so_ funny, Haymitch, don't you?"

"I _am_ funny." he smirked "Right, baby girl? Your Daddy is a very funny man." He lifted Oria up well over his head and tried to play-bite her little feet. She waved them around to escape him, erupting in a fit of giggles.

"Please, be careful." Effie immediately fretted.

"She's fine." Haymitch rolled his eyes. "Tell Mommy you're fine, baby girl…" He blew raspberries against her stomach which only made her laugh louder. It was a little less funny when she whacked him on the head with the spoon. " _Ouch_."

"Perfect aim, that's my girl." Effie huffed, turning back to the bowl full of dough. She bit her bottom lip, read the instructions again and added some milk but it looked very uncertain to Haymitch.

"Seriously, sweetheart. We can ask Peeta." he insisted.

"No, we are not asking Peeta." she refuted. "I am Oria's mother and, as such, it is my responsibility to provide her with food."

He stared at for a few seconds, instinctively tightening his grasp on the baby when she tried to escape.

"You've been reading those shitty parenting books again, haven't you?" he accused.

" _Language_." she snapped, clicking her tongue in obvious disapproval. "It won't be long until she starts repeating everything we say."

"Yeah." he said smugly. "Like Daddy. Say Daddy, baby girl."

Oria waved her spoon enthusiastically.

"Dada!" she squealed, before launching into another gibberish session. It must have been a very interesting monologue because the spoon was whacked against the table twice.

Haymitch wriggled his eyebrows at Effie. Her lips were pinched and she huffed in annoyance. Oria still wasn't saying _Mama_ or any derivation of _Mommy_.

"And that is why I need to provide the food." Effie argued, adding even more milk. "That's a mother's role and she clearly doesn't recognize me in the role and…"

"And I think you really should stop with the parenting books." he cut her off. "She knows you're her mother. She knows you love her." He stood up, the baby still in his arms, to peer over Effie's shoulder at the mess she was making. It _was_ a mess. "You can provide her with food by buying it."

Effie was clearly unsatisfied with that statement, she was pouting. The pout turned into a scowl when Oria found the bowl of melted chocolate – the only thing that looked fine in that kitchen, to be honest – and dropped her little hand right in it with a delighted giggle.

"Oh, Haymitch, be careful!" Effie chided him, pushing the bowl away before Oria could splash her fingers in it again. Instead, the baby brought her hand to her mouth and licked the chocolate, drooling on her brand new dress in the process. " _Haymitch_." Effie hissed as if it was his fault.

"Well, you provided her with food just now, sweetheart." he chuckled.

She wasn't quick enough to avoid their daughter's grabby hand which left a chocolate print on her arm. It seemed to amuse the baby to no end because she tried applying her little hand to every possible surface, giggling and keeping a running commentary in her nonsensical language.

"She's too cute." Effie sighed. "I can't be mad at her."

"We're going to spoil her and she will grow up to be a brat like her mother." Haymitch heaved out his own sigh, resigned to his fate.

Effie whacked him on the shoulder for that last comment and opened her arms. "Come here, my darling. It is time for your nap and we need to change that dress now." Haymitch handed her the baby, peering closer at what she had been trying to do, barely glancing at her in amusement when she continued her one-sided conversation with their daughter. "We can't trust Daddy with your clothes now, can we? He doesn't even get the difference between turquoise and royal blue." Oria replied something that sounded like _tetitopapadu_ and that might just have been an agreement. "Yes, yes, I know." Effie went on, rocking the baby on her hip. "Your Daddy is color blind. Bad, bad Daddy."

"Dada!" Oria shouted gleefully, as Effie took her out of the kitchen.

He had to snort at the impatience in Effie's voice when she replied. "Yes, we know, sweetie. But Dada isn't a good word. Try _mama_. Maaa… Maaa…"

It didn't take as long as he thought it would for her to put Oria down to sleep. She was back in the kitchen after ten minutes with the baby monitor that she left on the table.

"Out like a stone." she told him. "Help me with the cake, please…"

"I'm shit at that." he shrugged.

"But you cook _all the time_." she pouted.

He had to if he wanted them to eat something edible. She was trying but she would never be at ease behind a stove. A life of personal cooks, restaurants, take-out and deliveries would do that to you. He wasn't much better but at least he wasn't afraid the house would burn down every time he put something to boil.

"I _cook_." he pointed out. "I don't _bake_."

Effie sighed and studied her dough. "It can't be that difficult. Do you think we should add more milk? They say milk would help make it a little less…"

"Spongy?" he suggested helpfully, coming to stand right behind her. "Squashy? Squidgy?"

"You are _so_ not helpful." she grumbled, grabbing the bowl of melted chocolate back. "This looks alright to me."

Ignoring her protest, he dipped a finger in the bowl and licked it clean. It _was_ good.

"Perhaps we can make pancakes tomorrow morning." she offered. "I would hate to waste it."

"Sure." he agreed, dipping two fingers in the bowl of chocolate.

She was so distracted by her recipe she didn't even notice. "Now for the dough…"

She squealed when he wiped his fingers on the side of her neck but it turned into a hum when he covered the spot with his mouth, licking her skin clean.

"This won't help me bake a cake." she whispered.

"No but I have a lot of ideas about that chocolate." he snorted, adding another strike of chocolate to her neck only to lick it clean again.

"Do we have whipped cream? I think we do." she asked. "It's been _forever_ since we did that."

Whipped cream, strawberries and chocolate… They hadn't done that since well before the end of the Games probably.

"Katniss got strawberries. I will go get them." he told her, dropping a last kiss on her neck. He doubted the girl would care about him pilfering her fridge.

"I will wait upstairs." she grinned, grabbing the bowl of chocolate and the pot of whipped cream from the fridge.

He watched her sauntering away with a smirk of his own.

Life was _good_.


	5. Birthday Girl

Prompt idea you amazing woman: Oria and Haymitch preparing a super cute surprise for Effie because it's her birthday or Mother's Day? Merci!

 _ **Birthday Girl**_

Effie stretched and glanced lazily at the alarm clock. Eight a.m. on a Saturday was late for her, she was usually up at dawn no matter the day of the week. She stretched, smiling when she felt an arm sneaking around her waist from behind and lingering kisses being dropped up her neck.

"Where are you going?" Haymitch asked, his voice rough from sleep.

"I'm going to start breakfast." she hummed. "Oria will be up soon."

"Not today." he countered, slipping his hand inside her nightgown. "Today's special."

"Yes?" she grinned. "In what way?"

"Today's your birthday." he chuckled against her neck. "So you get a treat 'cause you're the birthday girl and I get a treat because I remembered."

"Peeta reminded you." she accused him, but complied with his wishes and rolled on her back all the same because she actually _wanted_ the treat he had in store for her.

"It was Oria." he snorted, diving under the blankets to drop kisses on her stomach. For a second, he seemed to deliberate between going up or down and then, predictably chose to go up, and pushed the nightgown completely out of the way. She was about to lift her arms so he could take it off her when the tale-tell stomping of little feet on the floorboards alerted them that the treat would have to be pushed back to later.

"I'm taking a rain check on that present." she told him right before the six years old barged in the room and jumped on the bed.

"Happy birthday, Mommy!" the girl shouted at the top of her lungs. Unperturbed by the fact Haymitch was very much on top of her, Oria hauled herself on her father's back, laughing at the impromptu game. "We have lots and lots of gifts!"

"Lots and lots?" she repeated, amused.

"Lots and lots." Haymitch confirmed, trying and failing to extricate himself from under their daughter.

"Group hug!" Oria declared with entirely too much energy for a Saturday morning. She wrapped her arms around their necks and tightened her grip to the point they exchanged a fond look, wondering who would suffocate first.

"Alright." Haymitch declared, escaping the child's vicious embrace. "Remember the plan, baby girl?"

It was like magic, she scrambled up and bounced on the bed a few times before standing at attention like she had seen Peacekeepers do on TV during parades. It made Effie slightly uneasy but she looked so cute in her pajamas stamped with gold and blue stars that she didn't say anything.

"Don't let Mommy leave the bed!" Oria rejoiced, flopping down on Effie's stomach, very much taking the breath out of her. The determined toothless grin made it impossible to scold her though.

"Yeah, try not to kill her while you do it." he snorted, before tousling their daughter's already disheveled hair.

Oria took her mission _very_ seriously. She refused to move from Effie's stomach even if she was too big to do that now. Effie could remember how she had loved to do that when she was a baby. A sure way to get her to fall asleep was to place her on her or Haymitch's chest on her tummy.

It took almost fifteen minutes of audible pots banging and cupboards slamming close downstairs before Oria finally decided Effie wasn't going to make a run for it and roll down on Haymitch's side of the bed.

"How about those mysterious gifts?" Effie probed, curious. Haymitch wasn't exactly the gift type. She could count on one hand the number of presents he had ever given her. "What is Daddy planning?"

"Huh Huh!" Oria shook her head negatively, clicking her tongue in an adorable imitation of her mother. "It's a surprise, you can't ask and I can't tell."

"Ah, but I can guess, can't I?" she insisted.

Oria gave her an unimpressed glance. "Daddy said you would say that and he said I have to say : good try, sweetheart."

That child was so loyal to her father that it sometimes made Effie jealous. Another part – the biggest part – was always amazed by their bond and was glad to have given that to Haymitch.

"I'm hungry." Oria sighed, looking at the door with some longing.

"Go down and ask Daddy for your breakfast." she suggested. "I promise I will stay here."

"Pinky swear?" the girl asked, holding out her little finger.

"Pinky swear." she smiled, bending her own little finger around hers. "But first give me a cuddle."

Cuddling was Oria's favorite activity and Effie didn't have to ask twice. She watched her daughter run downstairs with unrestrained fondness, barely remembering to tell her to put slippers on before she got a cold. She also used the respite from her cute jailor to use the bathroom.

The mystery about her having to stay in bed was solved when her family appeared, Haymitch carrying a tray loaded with entirely too many things and Oria carrying a small vase full of wild flowers – or rather, Peeta's and Katniss' flowers. The vase was obviously a yoghurt pot that had been hand decorated with painted noodles glued all around it. Effie _oooh_ ed and _aaaah_ ed appropriately, placing it on her nightstand right next to the alarm clock.

"Thank you." she beamed, as much to her daughter as to Haymitch who, she was certain, had been forced to partake into the crafting of the vase.

"Eat while it's warm." he grumbled, still uncomfortable with her gratitude even years after the war. "The cheese bun are from Peeta. He just brought them."

"There is too much for me!" she protested.

After a lot of arguing on her part, they all ended up sharing. And Oria ate almost all the buns.

"Thank you." Effie repeated again, once they were done having their breakfast. "That was really nice."

"It's not over! It's not over!" Oria bounced on the bed. "Next we go to Aunt Katniss and Uncle Peeta's house and then we..."

Haymitch swiftly covered their daughter's mouth with his hand.

"What's the plan, baby girl?" he chided her, frowning a little.

Duly chastised, Oria placed a finger in front of her mouth and shush.

Effie figured she would be going to a surprise party later. And one look at her was enough to make Haymitch snort. "Good thing Mommy is good at faking surprise."

"I'm good at faking a lot of things." she grinned.

"We'll see about that later, Princess." he winked.

Oria's blue eyes darted from one to the other and then she shrugged, probably deciding it was boring grown-ups talk.

"Can you give Mommy the surprise now, Daddy?" the child pleaded, chewing on her bottom lip. "You said you didn't want to do it with everyone else 'cause Auntie Jo would make fun of you but I want to see 'cause I told Finn I would tell him if Mommy liked it 'cause he wants to buy one for his Mommy's birthday and..."

" _Okay_." Haymitch cut in. "Run along and get dressed before you spill every little detail, baby girl."

"But I want to _see_!" Oria insisted. " _Pleaaaaase..._ Daddy, please, please, please, please... _"_

"Yes, Daddy..." Effie laughed, straightening up and sitting crossed-legged on the bed. "I want to see too..."

He rolled his eyes and shrugged.

" _Fine_. There's no fighting against you two." he surrendered. "Go get your gift, Oria."

Their daughter ran away laughing with glee. Effie carefully placed the tray aside and stepped out of bed before wrapping her arms around Haymitch's neck.

"You're spoiling me this year." she beamed. "Are Johanna and Finn here? Is Annie?"

"That was the kids' idea and that's the kids' present so you just wait, sweetheart." he grumbled. "That was supposed to be a surprise though."

"With a six years old, there is no surprise, darling." she teased.

"True enough." he snorted, stealing a kiss.

She tried to deepen it but Oria ran back inside the room, carrying a rather flat but large box covered with a glittery pink paper.

"Is that for me?" she fake-gasped.

"Yes! I chose it all on my own 'cause Daddy is rubbish!" Oria claimed.

"That is not a very nice thing to say." Effie scolded her.

"But he said it!" the girl argued, turning to her father for support.

"I did." Haymitch admitted.

"Where's your gift?" Oria frowned, studying Haymitch's empty hands with obvious disappointment. "You have to give her the gift, Daddy!"

"Another gift?" She furrowed her brow, a little taken aback. "That's too much, Haymitch, you didn't have to..."

"I do what I want with my money, don't I?" he scoffed, rummaging in his night stand and taking out a small square box. "Here..."

"No! Me first!" Oria jumped between her mother and her father, brandishing her gift like a shield. Effie took it with an indulgent smile and started removing the wrapping too carefully for her daughter's liking. "Tear it up, Mommy!" the girl exclaimed, helping her by tearing large band of wrapping paper away.

It was a box from one of the fanciest clothing shop in town. She opened it to find a folded pink dress.

"You can take it back if you don't like it." Haymitch said. "I kept the ticket."

"Mommy likes it, I chose it!" Oria objected.

"I love it." she promised, holding the dress in front of her and trying to get a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She kissed her daughter's cheek and then Haymitch's lips. "Thank you." she whispered against his mouth.

"That's my gift." Oria pointed out. "I get the thanks."

"Yes, you do." Effie chuckled. "Now, what about that mysterious gift..."

Haymitch held it out without much ado but she could tell he was nervous. She understood why when she opened it, he had never offered her jewelry before. Oria was bouncing next to her.

"Daddy chose it!" the girl piped when the silence stretched for too long. "He wouldn't let me help." The last part was added with a pout which told Effie there must have been a lot of sulking involved.

"If you don't like it..." Haymitch started.

"Don't." she breathed out. "It's beautiful."

It was a sapphire pendant dangling from a golden chain. It looked more Capitol than District and she wondered if he had ordered it especially for her.

He seemed relieved and pleased that she liked it and helped her lock it around her neck. She couldn't stop toying with it. She wrapped her arms around his neck again and planted a kiss on his lips, ignoring Oria who had tossed an arm around each of her parents' leg.

"I love you." Effie declared.

"Happy birthday." he answered, capturing her lips again despite Oria's giggles.


	6. Worse Games

Prompt: Oria coming home after having seen footage (shown in school maybe? or looks it up herself? idk) of the reaping ceremony from the 74th and/or 75th hunger games.

 _ **Worse Games**_

Haymitch was out of breath when he reached the house but he refused to acknowledge it. He was getting old, he thought, making sure the back door was properly shut behind him. The wind was strong and it had a tendency to slam open. He placed the bread and the groceries on the kitchen table, frowning a little at the uncharacteristic silence.

He didn't have to look far for Oria, she was sitting cross-legged on the rug in front of the roaring fire, playing with her dolls and having a blast out of it. She must have been in one of her "fashion design" game because all her dolls' clothes were spread around. She was so focused on wrapping one of her doll's hair in piece of fabric, she didn't even hear him come in.

"Hey, baby girl." he ruffled her hair which made the eight years old huff and smooth it back into place. Nevertheless, she gave him a toothless smile. "Where's your mom?"

Effie was usually in the living-room at that time, watching TV or working on paperwork…

"Upstairs." Oria replied. "She's taking a nap."

"A nap?" His frown deepened. "She's ill or something?"

She was feeling fine when he had last seen her… Winter was slowly on its way, though, and Effie had always been very easily affected by the cold.

"I don't know." the little girl shrugged, glancing at the living-room entrance as if it would conjure her mother. "I think she didn't like Miss Talia's letter."

"Miss Talia." he repeated tiredly. When their daughter's teacher wrote to them, it was never good news. "What did you do now?"

"Nothing!" the child exclaimed defensively. "Everyone got one. It's for tomorrow's lesson."

Haymitch left her to her dolls and went upstairs, a little worried about his wife. It wasn't like her to lie down in the middle of the day, not even when she was feeling ill. There was only one reason he could think of for her to do that and that was either a flashback or a panic attack.

She wasn't laying down. She was sitting with her back to the headboard, her legs hugged tight against her chest and her face buried in her knees. She didn't seem to hear him come in at all.

Not good, Haymitch thought, his suspicions growing.

He sat on the edge of the bed and placed a cautious hand on her arm. She startled badly, her eyes darting left and right.

"You're okay, sweetheart?" he asked quietly. She had been crying, that much was clear : her eyes were red and bloodshot. "What happened?"

She didn't answer, she reached for the crumpled piece of paper next to her and handed it to him without a word. It was an official letter from Oria's school, he squinted over it, dread and disgust coiling in his stomach.

The ten years anniversary of the rebellion were rolling around and Oria's class would be taught about the Games the next day. The letter was only a heads-up to the parents.

Haymitch could understand Effie's reaction because he felt sick to his stomach. The tremor in his hands was so pronounced all of a sudden that the paper made a rustling noise.

"I don't want to send her to school tomorrow." Effie finally spoke.

He reread the letter again. They would show footage of the 74th and 75th Games since they were the ones that lighted the spark.

"Not a solution." he countered flatly. They would appear on screen, Oria's classmates would recognize them and even if they didn't, Haymitch's last name wouldn't go unnoticed. Sending her or not wouldn't change a thing because her friends would tell her. "She will learn about it anyway."

"Then I will go talk to her teacher tomorrow morning before class." she hissed. "They _shouldn't_ do that, it's…" Her face fell. "I don't want my daughter to see… I… _Haymitch_ … What will she think?"

"Yeah." he sighed, rubbing his eyes. What _would_ Oria think about her escort of a mother and her killer of a father? "We need to tell her. Now."

"I beg your pardon? Have you lost your mind?" Effie's laughter was almost hysterical. "We aren't telling her. She's eight. She's too young."

"It's been ten years." he argued. "It's going to be everywhere. We can't hide it forever, sweetheart, and if my kid has to know I killed people I'd rather explain it myself."

They stared at each other for a long time and Effie shook her head. "Easy for you to say. You have excuses, I don't. I'm the monster."

She averted her eyes, her face dejected.

It had been easy to forget during the last few years – easier than he had thought it would. They had let go of the past, they had focused on their daughter and life had been good. He should have known the past wouldn't stay buried.

He brushed the loose strands that had escaped her stylish bun out of her face. "You paid your debt."

"A few months of torture don't make up for the twenty-four children I reaped." she scoffed. "You said that yourself."

"I also said you didn't deserve to be tortured in the first place but that must have slipped your mind." He rolled his eyes. "Forty-six. That's the number of kids I couldn't save. And eight kills in the arena. Fifty-four people."

And the worst thing was he couldn't remember all of their faces. They came back sometimes, out of the blue, like all familiar ghosts, but he couldn't remember them all. Their feature had blurred with time.

"It's not a competition." Effie snapped. " _You_ didn't have a choice."

"Did you?" he shrugged. It was the eternal question, wasn't it? They could discuss it until they were blue in the face, they would never find an answer. Capitol citizens had been brainwashed from birth, Effie had realized soon enough what the realities of the Games were and how ugly it all was. It was too late for her to get out by that point. Once in the Games always in the Games.

Even ten years after they were over, it seemed.

"It's better if it comes from us than from strangers." he insisted. She knew he was right, it was written all over her face. But she was pale, her lips were wobbling and he wasn't sure she could bear it. "I can do it by myself if you want."

"No." she replied. "No… If we do this… It should be the both of us. It's unfair to you otherwise."

He nodded gratefully. Oria always looked at him with a spark of admiration he wasn't impatient to snuff out.

There was no great discussion about how they were going to do it. Effie simply slip her hand in his and they walked down to the living-room where Oria was very busy trying to customized a dress with scraps of fabrics. She barely glanced up when they sat on the couch.

"Sweetie, we need to talk to you." Effie forced a smile on her lips but it was a feeble one. "Come here for a second."

A second was a very optimistic way to think about this, Haymitch mused as Oria dropped her toys to sit directly in front of them, right on the coffee table. Effie winced but didn't remind her that furniture weren't for sitting like she usually would have.

"I didn't do anything wrong." Oria was quick to say – which sent alarm bells ringing in Haymitch's head because when she was _that_ fast to defend herself, there usually was something to hide. She was a very curious child and that had gotten her in trouble more than once.

"You aren't in trouble." he said. "Do you know what tomorrow's lesson is about ?"

Oria's eyes immediately lighted up. "Yes! The Games! It's going to be _so_ cool ! I love history lessons!"

She was grinning so hard it was almost painful to watch, and the way she was bouncing her feet in excitement… It made Haymitch want to be sick. Effie squeezed his hand harder, he didn't know if it was a show of support or a request for comfort.

"Do you know what the Games are?" Effie asked faintly.

"Something that happened _ages_ ago." she shrugged. "I wasn't even born."

"And everybody knows that's when the world started turning." Haymitch snorted. He couldn't help his smirk at his daughter's sometimes self-absorbed remarks. She was so much like her mother… Oria grinned back at him as if they were sharing a big secret.

"Could we remain serious?" Effie chided him.

"I'd rather not, sweetheart." he deadpanned, prompting giggles from the eight years old. He was stalling for time, he was aware of that. He didn't want to destroy his daughter's innocence. He truly didn't want to. However, there was nothing he could do to prevent it barring moving behind Panem's borders. "Listen, baby girl… Tomorrow, you might see or hear things about us that could upset you."

Oria frowned. "Why?"

It had always been her favorite word ever since she was five. He couldn't keep count of the number of afternoon they had spent in the woods with her asking him why the sky was blue, why the water in the lake wasn't tasting like the water in the sea, why the birds fly, why snow was white… The list of questions was endless and he didn't always have the answers but she was never content with an _I don't know_. At some point, he had taken to phoning "Uncle Beetee" and let the girl chat with Three's victor for hours. It certainly wasn't very fair on his old friend but it had been that or going crazy.

"We should explain the Games." Effie whispered. He could only nod but he made no attempt at even trying. She took a deep breath, and started talking, keeping her eyes on the ground. "A long time ago, there was a war."

"The Mockingjay war!" Oria piped proudly. "That's Aunt Katniss."

Haymitch shouldn't have been surprised. She had picked up things here and there.

"No." Effie's smile was strained. "An older one. It was well before your father or I were even born."

The little girl's eyebrows shot up. "It must be _very_ old…"

"Almost a hundred years ago." Haymitch grumbled. "But thank you, you _do_ know how to make a guy feel old, baby girl."

She leaned in to pat his knee like Effie sometimes did when he was sulking for whatever reason. "You're still pretty, Daddy."

That was his usual reply to Effie when she complained about being old. He couldn't help but chuckle.

Effie entwined their fingers, a silent reminder that they needed to stop dancing around the subject. She clung to his hand.

"During that war, the Districts turned against the Capitol." Effie explained. "It was very different from now…"

Haymitch let her explain, almost tuning her out like he used to do at Reapings. Some of her sentences were directly taken from the speech she used to recite every year. He didn't think she was doing it on purpose. When she finally finished explaining how the Games came to be, Oria had a pensive expression on her face.

"So, they punished people by letting them play a Game?" the child resumed.

"I… Not exactly." Effie stammered. "The Games weren't… They weren't nice Games."

"A Capitol escort came to each District once a year." Haymitch took over, his voice as flat as it could get. It was at times like those that he truly missed liquor. "They drew names : a boy and a girl. Every kid from twelve to eighteen could be reaped. Then they took those kids and…" He fell silent, memories flashing in his head. He had been wrong before. He could remember the faces. Fifty-four faces flashed in front of his eyes in the space of a second, plus Chaff's, Seeder's Mags', Finnick's and all the friends he couldn't save. It made him dizzy.

"They sent the children in an arena and then they watched until there was a winner." Effie finished swiftly. "Now you have to understand… For Capitol people, it was good fun. We didn't know any better. The victors and the escorts were very famous, it was all glamorous to us."

There was a pleading note in her voice but Oria didn't seem to understand why, she tilted her head on the side and then she shrugged. "Okay."

"Your mother was an escort." Haymitch said because it needed to get out at some point. Explaining about the Games was the easy part. Explaining about the role _they_ played, now…

There was a silence. Haymitch could have sworn he would never feel his hand again because Effie was crushing it.

"Did you have a pretty dress?" Oria asked. "Can we see pictures?"

Effie glanced at him uncertainly. "I… did. I had a lot of pretty dresses."

"If pretty is a synonym of ridiculous then, yeah, she did." Haymitch replied harshly. He was unsettled by how much Oria was missing the point. She was usually quick to understand. "When I was sixteen, my name was drawn."

And he fought not to remember, he fought to forget and yet he could still hear it… His name being called by Twelve's old escort… The gasp of his brother, so loud in the silence… The drop of sweat rolling down his nape… The desperate look he had exchanged with his best friend before starting to walk mechanically to the stage…

He blinked, willing himself to focus on the present and the little girl sitting in front of him.

"By Mommy?" she asked.

"Not that time." Effie breathed out before he could answer. She leaned her forehead against his shoulder briefly, in an unnecessary silent apology.

Oria pondered that and then she grinned. "You won! You won because we live in victors' village so that means you're a victor! And Aunt Katniss and Uncle Peeta too! That's why he has a robot leg!" She looked so proud of herself… Like she had finally puzzled out a mystery that had bugged her for a long time. "That's _so_ cool!"

 _A true Capitol child_.

The thought came out of nowhere and Haymitch banished it guiltily to the back of his mind. It wasn't her fault. She couldn't understand. She had grown up in a world in which she ate when she was hungry, she never feared for her life except when strange bugs attacked her and she had never been afraid of losing someone.

"It's anything but _cool_." he growled.

Oria's glee died down abruptly faced with his uncharacteristic aggressive attitude toward her.

"Haymitch." Effie warned. It was his turn to cling to her hand while she clear her throat. "Sweetie, the Games weren't a good thing."

"But games are fun…" Oria objected, still watching him. "Are you angry, Daddy?"

"No." he replied, forcing his voice to soften. "No, baby girl."

"Those games… Those games weren't fun. Those games were _wrong_." Effie insisted. "To win means you are the last person standing. It means everyone else is dead."

" _Dead_ dead or _play_ dead?" the girl frowned.

"Dead dead." Effie confirmed.

Haymitch couldn't watch his daughter do the math. He couldn't. He stared at the shaking hand Effie was gripping so tight her knuckles had turned white.

"Oh." Oria said finally. "But you said they sent children."

"Yes." Effie's voice was strained and she cleared her throat again. Haymitch hoped she wouldn't start crying. If she did, it would upset Oria and then he would have to comfort them both and he really wasn't up for that right then.

"But…" Oria pressed, obviously fighting to grasp everything. "Daddy killed children?"

The horror in her voice, the note of despair… Haymitch would have stood up and left if his legs had been willing to carry him but he doubted they would. He could only stare at his and Effie's entwined hands. He could only pray it was all a nightmare and it would end soon.

"Daddy was a child at the time." Effie replied, firm enough that it left no room for argument. "Just like Aunt Katniss and Uncle Peeta. They had no choice. You really have to understand that, sweetie. Whatever they did, they had no other choice. They protected themselves, they did what they could to survive, there is absolutely _no shame_ in that. They were victims."

He didn't like being called a victim. He wasn't a _victim_. He survived. Victims didn't survive.

Oria spoke before he could correct Effie. "But… But… You are from the Capitol, Mommy. And Daddy said you called the names…"

Effie's breath audibly caught in her throat.

"She didn't like it." he said. Effie's eyes were burning a hole in the side of his face but he pretended not to notice. "Your mom tried to help the kids. She did her best. She did more than anyone for Twelve's tributes. More than I ever did." He didn't know if it was a lie or not. Effie had done more than her part required that was true but her motivations at the time were fuzzy. Was she trying to get promoted to a better District? Was it out of sympathies for the tributes? Was it because she felt horrible about the Games? It was a mix of the three probably. Nobody entered the Games world and came out whole. Nobody. Not victors, not escorts and not even Gamemakers if Plutarch's stories were to be believed. "People will say bad things about your mother, Oria." Effie had been living in Twelve for eight years, people had accepted her, she had friends… But he was certain that the talk of the rebellion would bring the hatred back. "I don't want you to believe them."

Oria's darted from her mother to her father. She looked confused.

"Capitol people don't seem nice." she said at last. She was upset, it was plain, but neither he nor Effie attempted to comfort her. He wasn't sure she would accept a hug just yet. It was a lot to take in.

"It's a bit more complicated than that." Effie cringed. "It was very different, sweetie."

"Do all the winners marry the escort?" The girl was fumbling with a loose thread on her pants. Effie was obviously fighting not to tell her to stop. "Is it like in fairy tales? You win the princess?"

He should have seen that coming, Haymitch figured. Oria was too perceptive, from what they had told her, she surely had guessed that District and Capitol didn't mixed so well.

"Only when you love the Princess." he shrugged, causing Effie to gasp a little. He didn't say that often enough. He barely said it even to Oria. It was difficult for him to put his feelings in words. "But no. There aren't a lot of victors left anyway. Only me, Katniss and Peeta, your aunt Jo, Uncle Beetee, aunt Annie and a woman called Enobaria."

"Finn's mom won the games?" Oria frowned. "But she's all… nice. Like Uncle Peeta. Did Uncle Peeta kill people?"

"Yes." Effie sighed.

The frown deepened. "But Uncle Peeta is _nice_."

"It has nothing to do with being nice, Oria…" Effie explained. "There are a lot of bad things nice people would do to protect people they love or simply survive. It doesn't mean they are not good people or that you should think of them any different. Do you understand?"

Haymitch wasn't so sure. As Katniss had told him once : nobody decent ever won the Games anyway.

"I think so…" Oria nodded. "It's not their fault. Like when I threw my shoe at the nasty fox who wanted to eat the geese. I hurt the fox because I didn't want him to eat Greta but I didn't want to hurt the fox 'cause he's pretty."

Ah, Greta… The fox hadn't known what mistake he'd made setting his eyes on Oria's most treasured bird.

"I wouldn't have put it quite this way but I suppose it's an adequate metaphor." Effie granted.

Oria nodded mostly to herself and then she jumped off the table and crawled in Haymitch's lap, forcing him to let go of his wife's hand.

"That must have been very scary, Daddy." She hugged him tight. "I was scared when the fox tried to eat Greta. I'm sorry you had to hurt people because you were scared."

He tried to answer but, in the end, the only thing he could do was hug her back. He closed his eyes, buried his nose in her hair and thanked Effie a thousand times in his mind for having gifted him with their daughter.

"Group hug." the child declared.

Her little hand reached for her mother's arm and tugged until Effie leaned against Haymitch's side and Oria could hold on to her too. It wasn't long before she escaped to go back to her playing. He suspected it was a way for her to process everything because she moved things around a lot without actually trying to customize her dolls' dresses anymore.

Effie rested her head on Haymitch's shoulder. She didn't say anything but he knew what she was thinking. The escort thing hadn't sunk in, Oria hadn't completely understood the role her mother had played. They should explain how the 74th and 75th Hunger Games had changed things… They should explain the rebellion…

Later, he thought, during dinner maybe. Not now, though.

Let her play, he mused watching her wrapping an old piece of fabric around a doll, there are worse games.


	7. Against The Odds

Absolutely loved today's one shot! It was perfectly written (: could you pretty please do a follow up? Maybe oria learns more about Effie or people say things about her at school or something?

 _This one can stand alone. All you need to know is that Oria is my hayffie kid._

 _ **Against The Odds**_

Oria's silence was starting to unnerve Haymitch.

"How was school?" he asked, trying to ignore the pointed staring of people on the streets. With the tenth years anniversary of the rebellion looming ahead and the lessons about Hunger Games at school, Haymitch was starting to become a bit paranoid those days. He wasn't the only one. Katniss stuck to the woods, Peeta to the bakery and Effie had called in sick more often in the last week than in her whole time working at the Justice Building.

Oria's only answer was a shrug and even his offer to stop at Peeta's bakery for a treat was met with lack of enthusiasm. Still, he nudged her in the direction of the boy's shop, knowing his baked goods never failed to cheer the little girl up.

The place was crowded, as usual, Peeta's assistants were running around taking orders and ushering the next client quicker than it took to blink. Business was good, at least.

One of the boys tending the cash machine saw them and warned Peeta who walked out of the kitchen to greet them with a smile. Oria accepted his hug with good humor and requested a piece of apple pie that Peeta was only too happy to grant. The boy tried to engage Oria in a conversation but it wasn't better received than Haymitch's own attempts. They didn't linger and walked back home, Haymitch carrying her schoolbag and Oria carefully holding the wrapped up piece of pie.

Fall was coming on fast but it was still warm enough to sit outside for a while so Haymitch didn't protest when the girl sat on the wooden bench next to their house. She nibbled on the pastry with deliberate attention – because she didn't want to stain her clothes or because she didn't want to waste a crumb, it was anyone's guess. Aside for her undivided attention to her snack, she was flinging her legs back and forth which meant she was restless.

"So, what's up, baby girl?" he asked when he couldn't take the uncomfortable silence anymore. "How was the history lesson?"

Upsetting, no doubt. It couldn't have been easy to sit there while footage of her family doing things much too complicated for a eight years old was displayed for everyone to see.

"It wasn't cool." she said around a mouthful of pie, spitting some everywhere. Effie would have chided her until she was blue in the face but Effie wasn't there and he was very sure she wouldn't have done it in front of her mother anyway. "I don't like history anymore." He wasn't very much surprised by that but he didn't have time to voice the feeling. She finished the pie and swung her legs harder. "Is Mommy bad?"

The question left him both speechless and enraged. "Is that what your teacher said?"

Oria didn't answer at once, she wasn't looking at him either. "Miss Talia said escorts were bad people and they were _all_ punished after the war except Mommy. She said nobody really knows why."

"Bullshit." he snorted.

"Daddy!" Oria gasped. "You have to put a coin in the swear jar now."

The swear jar was Effie's idea, of course. He still thought it was a way for her to steal his money.

"What did you learn today?" he asked, ignoring the question of proper language for now. "What did Miss Talia tell you?"

"Well…" Oria hesitated. "We watched videos. There was a big, big, _big_ one of those Games thing with every people who won before… Mommy looked very sad but she had a very pretty dress with butterflies… Can I have the same one?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't you have enough dresses? What did you learn next?"

"Next…" she hesitated. She looked down at the dry earth, placing her right foot on a twig and making it roll back and forth under the sole of her sneaker. "Next Mommy called Aunt Katniss' name and that means she had to go back in the Games. And then… Then…"

"Then she called out my name." he finished for her. Clearly that part had greatly disturbed her because she nodded, not looking up. He didn't need to see her eyes to know they were full of tears. "But Uncle Peeta volunteered."

She nodded again and then shrugged. "Then Aunt Katniss made the arena explode and she went to District Thirteen with Finn's Dad, Uncle Beetee, Uncle Plutarch and you but Uncle Peeta was captured with Aunt Jo and Aunt Annie. And then Aunt Katniss was the Mockingjay and she did a revolution and she rescued Uncle Peeta and Aunt Jo and Aunt Annie. And then they won." It was a big shortcut, he thought, as she went on. "Then the war was over and there was a _big_ thing they called the purge…" She looked at him to see if it was the right word and he motioned for her to continue. "And there were a lot of trials with the people who made the Games and they were all executed because they were very bad people and then Aunt Katniss didn't kill the mean President like she was supposed to but she killed the rebel one instead and there were new elections and then a big trial and you brought her back to Twelve." she finished quickly, out of breath. "But Mommy was an escort and she wasn't in the purge Miss Talia said but if the escorts were bad people and Mommy was an escort then is she bad?"

"Your mom…" He let the sentence trail off, not really knowing where he was going with this. Effie had handled his participation in the Games very well, she had explained it to Oria in such a way the girl understood but… It was less complicated than her own involvement. "Your mom didn't know what she was doing was bad at first. It's like… that time I caught you playing with the matches. Do you remember that?" He would never be able to forget it. He almost had a heart attack. "You didn't know it was bad until I explained, remember?"

"You punished me." she reminded him with a sulk.

It had taken place a few years ago but he had shouted so hard the memory must have been still vivid.

"Yeah, true, but…" he sighed, rubbing his face. "You know when you said Uncle Peeta was captured?" He left it at that. He didn't think the teacher had gone in details and he also didn't think it was necessary for her to know everything. "Your mom was captured too. Bad things happened to her. She was punished enough."

"What kind of bad things?" she frowned.

"It doesn't matter." he retorted, more coldly than he probably ought to. "The important thing is… She was part of the team. She was one of us. You can tell that to anyone who ask about her. She isn't a bad person. She never was."

Oria curled up on the bench, wrapping her arms around her knees. It was starting to get chilly, they would need to go in soon but he wanted to make that clear first : Effie wasn't a bad person.

"Aunt Jo says you can't never know if people are nice or mean until they get mean." the little girl dutifully repeated. He made a mental note to call Jo and shout at her. "How do you know Mommy is different from the other escorts?"

"I know because…" He shrugged. "I know because she loves me and she loves Peeta and Katniss. She loved us against the odds."

"I love Mommy." Oria said. "I love her lots and lots."

"Well, then… You have it, baby girl. The rest doesn't matter." he declared. "The past is in the past. Leave it there."

She nodded thoughtfully before glancing at him with an anxious face. "You won't tell Mommy I asked if she was bad?"

"Our secret." he smiled.

"Pinky swear?" she insisted, offering her little finger.

He humored her, following the very precise steps of the pinky swear with all the gravity it required and then stood up and ushered her inside the house. She looked much better, she was chatty again – just like her mother – and he hummed and exclaimed at all the right places while she talked his ear off about whatever had taken her fancy.

When Effie finally came home, he had just started dinner.

"How did it go at school?" she asked, without even bothering with a greeting.

It had been like that ever since the beginning of the history lessons.

"Hello to you too, Princess." he scoffed, rolling his eyes. He smirked at her, imitating her high-pitched voice as best as he could. "Oh, _Haymitch_ , you have _no_ manners at all ! Why can't you be _more_ like _me ?"_ He shook his head with amusement. "Never thought I would see the day Miss Prim and Proper would…"

"Yes, I believe I get the point." she hissed.

"And now you interrupt me." he snorted, leaving the stew on the fire to steal a kiss. She played along but the worry never left her eyes. He kissed her again. "I have a very bad influence on you, sweetheart."

"Where is Oria?" she asked, shedding her coat.

"Living-room. She's doing her homework." he offered. "Go say hi. You can't be rude to your husband _and_ to your daughter the same day. Pretty sure that's against the law."

She ignored his taunting and warily made her way to the living-room. He followed a few steps behind and remained in the shadow of the door, watching the little girl wrap her arms around Effie's neck as soon as she saw her. It wasn't long before she dragged her mother to the couch where her math lesson laid forgotten to sit on her lap. She was starting to get too big for that, Haymitch mused, time was flying.

Oria was chatting about the pie Peeta had given her and how Haymitch had said a bad word earlier so she had made sure he put a coin in the jar and Effie was nodding along, a bright smile on her lips.

He couldn't wait for the rebellion anniversary to pass so they could go back to their ordinary life.

In the last ten years, he had learned that ordinary meant happy.

And they were very, _very_ happy.


	8. His Baby Girl

Ferkelnase's prompt : i love the Prompt about their daughter Oria :) It would also be fun to read a story when she brings home her first boyfriend ;)

 _ **His Baby Girl**_

Peeta's bakery was heavy with the smell of freshly baked pastries. Effie was busy nodding very seriously at Rye's babble about this or that while Peeta filled a box with her order. Katniss and Haymitch were standing not too far from the large window, inspecting the young woman's new bow – her father's had become too old to be of any use.

"What do you think, Grandma?" Rye asked, his grey eyes open wide in interrogation.

At six and a half the little boy was still interested in what the adults had to say, his sister on the other hand was quickly entering what Haymitch and Effie had labeled "the age of nightmare"; at almost nine, Willow thought she knew everything better than anyone and above all any grown-up in her life. She followed Oria like a second shadow and was quickly becoming as stubborn as her mother had been – which was still less stubborn than Effie's own daughter was. Oria was now fifteen and even more rebellious than Katniss had been around that age. It didn't matter what Effie or Haymitch said, it was always wrong in her opinion even when they agreed with her. It was exhausting on a daily basis and Effie was glad for sweet Rye's easy disposition.

"Well, I think you should leave some milk for him tonight and the tabby cat might just come back." she advised, spying Peeta's amused smile. It wouldn't be the first cat the Mellarks rescued after all.

"Willow says he won't." The boy looked dejected and Effie couldn't bear that.

"You've been feeding him for two days, believe me, he will." Effie promised. "Cats are like Grandpa, they follow their stomach."

"Not with your cooking." Haymitch snorted from the window. Katniss hid a smile behind her hand probably to spare Effie's feelings.

"I've improved." Effie snapped. "You said so yourself. You love my pasta."

Haymitch handed the bow back to Katniss and walked closer with one of his trademark smirk. Rye immediately put his arms up and Haymitch lifted him up, even though he winced when his back cracked loudly in protest.

"Grandma doesn't know how to cook." he told the boy very seriously. "I think she's trying to poison me."

"You will make him scared of me!" Effie protested.

Rye looked from Haymitch to Effie, eyes sparkling in amusement. "I like when Grandma cooks chocolate cake."

"You don't _cook_ cakes, darling, you _bake_ them." she corrected him with an indulgent smile.

"And those are readymade." Haymitch whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. "So it doesn't count."

"You're insufferable." Effie hissed, glaring at him.

"You know, when you two don't fight every three hours, I get worried." Peeta joked.

"He's insufferable!" Effie insisted.

"Right back at you, sweetheart." Haymitch winked.

Her irritation disappeared slowly faced with his obvious teasing and she settled for brushing Rye's blond hair out of his eyes. It was getting a bit long but the boy refused to have it cut to Katniss' growing annoyance.

"Why is there a boy pawing at Oria?" Katniss growled suddenly, looking through the window.

" _What_?" Haymitch roared. Before Effie could react in any way, her arms were full of Rye and Haymitch was gone. She quickly handed the boy to Peeta and hurried after her husband. She caught up with him in the street and easily saw what Katniss had been talking about. Her daughter was locked in a tight embrace with the Falders boy, they were so busy kissing they hadn't even spied the danger storming their way.

"Haymitch, now, don't go and…" she pleaded to deaf ears.

" _Orianna_!" he yelled so loud every passerby turned around to see what the scene was about. People quickly made themselves scarce when they glimpsed Haymitch though.

Oria obviously startled but was quick to push the boy behind her and placed her hands on her hips. "What?"

Effie mentally moaned, that was a huge fight in the making and she was sure she would get a headache before the end of the day. She watched the sun dance on her daughter's hair – black as coal with purple strands, needless to say she hadn't consulted any of them before getting it dyed – and longed for the easy days when she had been small and happy to trot after one of them.

"What do you mean _what_?" Haymitch snapped, taking a threatening step in the direction of the – obviously frightened – teenage boy. "Why did you have your tongue in my daughter's mouth?"

"Should I shot him?" Katniss' voice joined in. It was hard to tell if she was serious or not but Effie didn't fancy taking any risk.

"Katniss, dear, you aren't helping." she sighed before placing a restrictive hand on Haymitch's arm. "The boy clearly wasn't forcing our daughter, Haymitch."

She discreetly gestured at the teenager to run away while Haymitch was staring at her in obvious disbelief.

"Don't tell me you're alright with that?" he spat.

"She doesn't have to be alright with it, I'm big enough to decide for myself." Oria argued, folding her arms on her chest.

"You're certainly big enough to get grounded for five years." Haymitch snapped back. "Keep on talking back and it will be six."

Effie was painfully aware they were in the middle of the streets and people were looking at them from shop doors and windows. "Let's go back home and discuss the matter."

"There's nothing to discuss." Haymitch grabbed Oria's arm and started to drag her in the direction of their house which wasn't settling well with the teenager. She struggled all the way, all the more so when she glimpsed some of her friends watching the scene with small mocking smiles. "Go to your room." he ordered as soon as they had crossed the house's threshold.

"She isn't going to her room, we're having a talk." Effie countered, pointing to the living-room. Neither Haymitch nor Oria moved, both were sporting identical scowl. Enough was enough. " _Now_."

She rarely raised her voice in that manner but they knew that when she did, it meant business. Haymitch glared but passed in the next room without any more protest, ten years of working with her and fifteen of _living_ with her had taught him when to fight and when to surrender. Oria seemed to hesitate between rebelling some more and compliance but in the end, she followed her father's lead and stepped into the living-room only to collapse gracelessly on a chair. To Effie's utmost despair, manners and proper lady-like behavior were as far on her lists of preoccupations as it was on Haymitch's.

Effie waited until Haymitch sat down on the couch before taking her place next to him and clasping her hands in her lap.

"Good." She tried to put some cheerfulness in her voice but it wasn't very convincing. "Now, let's talk about this like civilized persons."

"Nothing to talk about." Haymitch grumbled. "She isn't walking out of this house before she's forty."

Effie ignored him. "I wish you had told us you had a boyfriend, Oria."

"I don't have a boyfriend!" Oria exclaimed at the same time Haymitch shouted a "Are you kidding me?"

"Enough." Effie snapped. "Haymitch, our daughter is fifteen, that was bound to happen. Orianna, what do you mean you don't have a boyfriend? I do hope you don't go around kissing every boy in the middle of the street!"

She was sure her mother was spinning in her grave.

"She's still a baby." Haymitch argued, his face red.

"I have my periods, Dad, I'm not a baby anymore. I'm a woman." Oria shot back, knowing very well what that precise piece of information would do to her father. Haymitch almost choked in embarrassment and looked at Effie with pleading eyes. Talk of periods always made him uncomfortable.

"Orianna, you don't talk about such things." Effie sighed. "It isn't proper, not to mention every bit irrelevant. Now, what did you mean about not having a boyfriend."

Oria glared at Haymitch but then her anger seemed to fade to be replaced by uncertainty, she looked at Effie obviously ill-at-ease. "Can we talk about it just you and me?"

"Yeah, no." Haymitch snorted. "You will do your puppy eyes and she will give you permission to kiss boys. No."

Somewhere along the lines, Haymitch had become the bad cop and Effie the good one. She wasn't sure when they had exchanged roles. Perhaps when Oria had become a teenager and had started to crave more liberties than Haymitch was ready to give. Effie could still remember her wild years, she just wished Oria's wouldn't be half as wild.

"Why don't you go feed the geese?" Effie ordered more than suggested but Haymitch pretended not to understand.

"She's too young." he hissed through his teeth.

"It was the first time!" Oria exclaimed, all good disposition she was willing to show a few seconds before had disappeared. She was angry again and bolted to her feet. "And you spoiled everything! Now, he won't ever want to kiss me again."

"Well, good riddance!" Haymitch shouted back. "Sit down. We're not done, here."

"Oh, yeah, we're done!" the girl replied, storming out before any of them could do anything. Effie counted to three before she heard a door slamming shut upstairs.

"You just couldn't let me handle it, could you?" Effie sighed, rubbing a hand against her face.

"What is there to handle?" Haymitch growled. "She's grounded. _Forever_." She stared at him long enough it unnerved him. "What?"

"She's fifteen. It's natural to want to kiss boys at fifteen." Effie stated. "Every girl does. I kissed my fair share of boys."

"And look where it brought you." he snapped. "Model, then escort, all those wild parties and all those one-night stands… That's what you want for her?"

"Be very careful, Haymitch, because I have the feeling you are calling me a tramp." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"No." he was quick to reply, reaching for her hand. "No but I don't want that for her. I know what fifteen years old boys want. I know what _I_ was after and that wasn't kissing. She's still a baby."

"A baby of fifteen." Effie argued softly, stroking his knuckles with her thumb. "You won't be able to keep boys away forever."

"I can kill them." he said a bit too seriously for her tastes. "I don't want _stupid boys_ pawing at my baby girl."

"I would rather your baby girl felt free to come to us with boy problems." Effie sighed. "Whatever she decides to do with them, I'd rather know."

He looked ill now. "What do you mean what she decides to do? She isn't doing anything with a boy. _Ever_."

"So you want her to remain single forever?" Effie teased gently. "You don't want her to find a nice man who will love her just as much as we do? You don't ever want grandchildren?"

"I'm happy with the grandchildren we have. I feel old enough when they call me grandpa already." he grumbled before he shook his head. "How can you be okay with the idea of her… She's _our_ baby, sweetheart! You were pregnant yesterday!"

"Yesterday was fifteen years ago." She smiled softly and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Our baby is almost grown up and if she wants to kiss boys, I don't think we should forbid her. What we should do is talk to her and make sure she knows that she doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to or doesn't feel ready for."

"It's like you're giving her permission." he lamented. "You know how she is…"

"Yes, I know how she is." Effie chuckled. "She is just like you. Tell her no and she will do it just to spite you."

He eyed her thoughtfully. "Clever. We pretend to be alright with it so she won't have anything to act all rebellious about… I like it." He smirked. "I knew there was a reason I married you."

She rolled her eyes. "And that wouldn't be because you happened to love me by any chance?" He shrugged, not committing to anything, and she whacked his arm playfully. "I will go talk to her."

She wasn't sure which one was the most difficult between the two but as she stood in front of Oria's bedroom door, she readied herself for battle. She knocked quickly – because she still insisted on manners even though she was the only one bothering with them in the house – and stepped in before being invited. She had been prepared to be attacked with snappish comments about how it wasn't her room and she should wait for Oria to tell her it was okay but the girl was laying on her stomach on the bed, face buried in the crook of her elbows, her small frame shaking with fat and ugly sobs.

"Oh, sweetie…." Effie breathed out, her heart breaking at the sight. She hurried to the bed and took her in her arms like she did when Oria was still a small child. The teenager clung to her and wept for several minutes.

"Dad spoiled everything!" Oria told her after a while, sniffling. She wiped her damp cheeks angrily with her sleeve and then curled back on the bed, placing her head in Effie's lap. She didn't do that much anymore and Effie savored the moment, combing her dyed hair with her fingers.

"He didn't mean to." Effie promised. "You have to understand, you're his baby girl."

"I'm not a baby anymore." she snapped.

"To him you still are." Effie laughed softly. "You always will be. He loves you so, _so_ very much, Oria."

"It was just a kiss." she mumbled. "He scared Kal away."

"Well if Kal loves you, I'm sure he will come back and brave your father's anger." Effie hummed, braiding purple strands with dark ones. She really wished Oria had come to her with her dying project… She would have taken her to the Capitol, to a _real_ hairdresser, or she would have convinced her to try wigs… She had been so appalled when she had seen her daughter's beautiful hair turned into this messy thing. Not to mention she had truly thought Haymitch was about to have a heart attack. "Was it a good first kiss?"

"Mom!" Oria exclaimed, embarrassed, but then she wriggled a bit in Effie's lap. "It was okay but then he used his tongue and it was yucky. Is that normal?"

Effie had to bit her lower lip not to burst out laughing. "Perhaps he isn't quite talented at it. Your father…"

"I don't want to know that." Oria quickly interrupted, making a face.

"I simply meant to say everything is better when you love each other." she said, knowing full well about her daughter's aversion to seeing Haymitch and her locked in any form of embrace even for a small chaste kiss. She had made them aware she found it disgusting that they were still doing that at their age which had made Effie feel like a fossil and had only prompted a vexed Haymitch to demonstrate to her in the privacy of their bedroom how young he still was. "Do you love Kal?"

"I don't know." Oria mumbled. "Did you know you love Dad before you kissed him for the first time?"

It was a difficult question to answer. Oria knew everything there was to know about the Hunger Games and the roles they had played in them but some things had been brushed upon and never mentioned again. None of them wanted to revisit those memories. It felt like it all happened a lifetime ago in a different life. The nightmares were few and far between now, the scars had faded to pale white lines that you couldn't see under dim lights…

"I don't know." she echoed her daughter's response. "Your father is a hard man to get to know. It took time to fall in love with him but it was too easy to fall at the same time if that makes any sense."

"It doesn't." Oria snorted.

"Well, we don't make any sense either as a couple so I suppose it's alright." Effie smiled softly. "Now, why don't we get back down so you can have a calm discussion with your father now that you've both calmed down?"

"Is he still angry?" Oria asked in a small voice.

"I don't think he's angry, I think he's sad because you're not a baby anymore and he doesn't want to admit it." Effie offered. "He doesn't want a boy to come and replace him in your heart."

"That's stupid." Oria scrambled upright with a frown. "That's not the same thing."

"Perhaps, but he's used to rank first in your attentions." She couldn't help a grin at the memory that sprung to her mind. "Do you remember when you were little and wanted to marry Peeta? He gave your Uncle the cold shoulder for weeks."

Oria rolled her eyes but stood up and led the way downstairs. Effie followed at a more measured step, hoping Haymitch had indeed calmed down. They found him in the kitchen, banging cupboards open and close probably in search for something to cook for dinner. He and Oria stared hard at each other for a long second, the girl looked away first.

"It's time to feed the geese." Oria said, grabbing the bag of crumbs from the kitchen counter. "You're coming, Daddy?"

Haymitch shrugged but followed her out, letting the backdoor slam shut behind him like he always did. Effie wasn't privy to their discussion in the geese pen, she never was, but when they came back they were both smiling. She sighed in relief : drama averted for now.


	9. Keeping Them Safe

This is a really simple prompt so make of it what you will: Effie's panick attacks :)

 _In one of the Oria's os I mentioned that Effie had a bad panic attack at some point when Oria was still a baby and someone asked me if I would ever write it and this prompt seems like a good place to do it ^^_

 _Also, I had a message about Haymitch being OOC in my OS with Oria, I would just like to say that while I accept and encourage constructive criticism, I tried to show character development where Haymitch is concerned, he didn't become a great father from one day to the next. Most of the chara development is dealt with in Kicking the Odds and I try to keep all Oria-related story in a consistent universe, so stories might go back and forth on the timeline but Haymitch, as well as Effie and the kids, change with time. They're not the same when Oria is a baby as when Oria is fifteen for instance and they certainly are not the same as in THG. Years have passed and life happened._

 _ **Keeping Them Safe**_

Haymitch didn't know what woke him up precisely. He pricked his ears for the baby's cries but couldn't hear anything other than the wind raging outside. Somewhere downstairs, a shutter banged close twice in a row – probably in the kitchen, he had meant to have a look at it and had never found the energy. The bed felt cold. He outstretched a hand to the other side, surprised Effie hadn't snuggled against him to keep warm already, but his fingers only met crumpled sheets.

The last remnants of sleep left him completely then. He listened harder but the house was eerily silent aside for the shutter regularly banging against the wall. He pushed the covers and slipped out of bed, shivering slightly when the cold air assaulted him. He didn't bother with the lights, long accustomed to navigate around his house half-drunk in the dark so now that he was sober it wasn't a real challenge. His first stop was the nursery but Effie was nowhere in sight.

Perhaps she had gone down to block the shutter, he mused, stepping in the room anyway to check on Oria.

The crib was empty.

It had been a long time, _years_ maybe, since he had felt such a deep, gut-wrenching stab of _panic_.

A thousand scenarios flashed through his mind : someone had broken in while he was sleeping and had taken his family away; Effie had run away in the dead of night with the kid because she had realized just how shitty a father he would make; they were dead somewhere in the house…

He turned around, intending to search every room before running to Katniss' and beg the kids for help when his eyes caught Effie's dark figure in the pale moonlight. He stood frozen in place for a second, the instant relief at seeing her safe and sound quickly turning to dread. She was huddled in the corner behind the door which explained why he hadn't spotted her before, the two months old baby nestled in her arms, and she was rocking back and forth in a way that clearly wasn't meant to be soothing. More worrying was Oria's silence.

He took two steps forwards and Effie's head snapped up before she tried to cower a little more against the wall, pressing the baby against her chest and half turning her body so she could shield the child.

"Sweetheart…" he called softly.

Her breathing was quick and he wasn't certain just how awake she was. Her nightmares were still violent sometimes and it was very possible she had suffered from one and hadn't managed to completely snap out of it. His concern was the baby she was holding too tight.

Slowly, he walked closer, careful not to make any sudden move. He crouched in front of her but didn't reach out just yet.

"Sweetheart, it's me." he said quietly. "You know who I am?"

Her eyes darted from him to the rest of the room.

"Haymitch." she breathed out tentatively after a few seconds. Her voice broke. " _Haymitch_ …"

He did reach out then, placing a hand on her arm. She flinched.

"Yeah." he confirmed. "You know where you are?"

"The Capitol." she replied without hesitation, she curled up tighter and Oria started wailing in protest at being jostled – Haymitch breathed easier because he had been scared that… " _Shhh. Shhh_." Effie rocked the baby _way_ too abruptly compared to her usual gentle technique to get her to sleep. Oria only wailed louder and Effie's face grew more desperate.

"You're in Twelve, Princess. You're safe." he said, squeezing her arm. "It was just a nightmare. You need to come back."

She didn't answer. She kept on rocking and shushing the baby, holding her close to the point Haymitch was starting to be concerned she would hurt her without meaning to. He didn't dare try to take Oria away though. Effie looked too feral.

"Sweetheart, why don't you give me the kid so you can go back to bed?" he suggested, moving his hand from her arm to the child slowly.

She recoiled, her eyes wild. "No, no, no. They want to take her away. They want to take her away, Haymitch."

"Nobody is taking her away." he countered. "There's no one here but us. Snap out of it, Effie."

She blinked quickly but her eyes were still glassy and whatever the nightmare had been about, it was still holding her captive in its clutches. Downstairs, the shutter banged and she almost jumped out of her skin. Oria's wailing was starting to get hoarse with displeasure.

"You trust me, yeah?" he asked, switching tactics. He cupped her cheek, waiting for her initial flinch to subside. She leaned against his hand after a few seconds. "Give me the baby, sweetheart."

"I need to protect her." Effie argued feverishly. "I need to keep her safe. They're coming for her. They will take her away from me. They will…"

"I can protect her better." he lied. "Let me take her."

She hesitated and for a brief moment he thought she would accuse him of trying to steal the child too but, in the end, she handed him Oria. He didn't lose a second before snatching the baby and putting a reasonable distance between Effie and him. He rocked their daughter, humming her favorite lullaby terribly off-key and kissing her brow until she finally fell quiet, asleep once more. She didn't seem hurt, just annoyed at having her sleep cut short – which was just _precious_ since she had no qualm about waking them at odd hours because she was hungry.

"Haymitch?" Effie asked in a small voice.

"Yeah?" He carefully put Oria down in her crib and made sure she was warm enough.

"Did I hurt her?" she sobbed.

There were tears rolling down her face and she still had that faraway look in her eyes, as if she didn't know if she was awake or dreaming.

"No, she's fine." he promised, holding out his hand to her. He helped her to her feet and hugged her close. She clung to him, shivering and sobbing in turn.

"Are you sure we're not in the Capitol?" she asked.

"Yeah." He pressed a kiss against the side of her head. "We're home. You're safe. Both of you."

It took a little convincing but after checking on Oria one last time, he managed to get her back in bed. She was still shaking when he ventured downstairs to _finally_ deal with that banging shutter – he didn't think the sudden noises were helping her remain calm at all, if anything it might have started the flashback and the panic attack. He made her tea while he was in the kitchen, the one she claimed always soothed her nerves. She was completely lucid when he came back upstairs, wrapped in their bed's blankets with her back to the headboard and her forehead resting on her knees. She accepted the cup of tea with a small "Thank you.".

"Feel better?" he asked, climbing back into bed.

She shook her head. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"It's fine." he shrugged. "You should have woken me up, sweetheart."

"I didn't even _see_ you, I was…" Her sentence trailed off and she took a sip of her tea, clearly trying to collect herself. "I was certain someone was coming to take Oria away from me. I…" She fell silent again, chewing on her bottom lip.

He wondered how long it would take before she gave in and go to sleep in the rocking chair in the nursery.

"I could roll the crib in here…" he suggested. "You wanted the kind with wheels, it should be for something…"

She didn't truly relax until he had rolled the crib right next to her side of the bed. It took two hours before they settled down again though because Oria had decided that the constant agitation around her meant she needed to be fed and then she simply wouldn't go back to sleep.

Dawn was looming when Effie finally lied down next to him, her hand firmly latched on the edge of the crib. He spooned her and pressed a kiss against her nape.

"She's fine." he promised for the hundredth time. "Nobody is ever going to take her away."

"How can you be so certain?" she whispered.

"'Cause I will kill any son of a bitch who tries to harm her, sweetheart." he said very directly. "Or you for that matter."

"You will keep us safe." Effie breathed out, burrowing into his warmth.

He tightened his hold on her waist and dropped another kiss on her neck, his eyes naturally resting on the crib and the sleeping baby in it.

He had failed his family once, it would never happen again on his watch.

"I will keep you safe." he sworn.


	10. Of Geese And Baby Girls

prompt : I was wondering if you've time for another request could you write something based on Katniss and Peeta's daughter just being born and Oria as a young child meets her for the first time, with Effie like a mother to Katniss and Haymitch like a parent to them both I keep picturing this in my head as a really sweet grand parents in a way meets the baby for the first time too. Xo

 _ **Of Geese and Baby Girls**_

The six years old was a bundle of badly repressed energy as she clung to her father's hand, unable to keep silent as she fired question after question at her parents.

"When can I show her the geese?" she asked Haymitch.

"Babies can't play with geese, sweetie." Effie sighed.

"I will tell Greta to be nice with her, I swear! Greta _is_ nice!" Oria argued, clasping her mother's hand with her free one.

Haymitch tuned the rest of the conversation out, thinking they must have been a sight, the three of them, walking up the corridor of the hospital with Orianna regularly forgetting the speech Effie had made about proper behavior while they were in the building and using their hands as leverage to jump further away like a little monkey.

Soon enough, they were at Katniss' room. It was open and Oria didn't bother with knocking, she escaped their grip and barged in with a cheerful "Aunt Katniss!".

'Aunt Katniss' greeted the girl with a tired smile, her arms full of the tiny little baby everyone was already in love with, but Peeta lifted Oria up and gave her the mandatory hug.

"Have you come to meet your brand new cousin?" the boy asked her with the very same grin he couldn't seem to be able to shake off ever since Katniss had announced her pregnancy.

"Uh, uh!" Oria nodded enthusiastically, locking her arms around his neck in, what Haymitch knew to be, a painful grip.

Effie's hand slipped into Haymitch's as she leaned against him, happy to just watch for the moment. Each of them already had their turn with the kids' baby earlier and they were both already wrapped around her little finger. Willow was simply beautiful.

Haymitch couldn't deny he had been surprised when Katniss had told them she was pregnant. He had thought she would need more time than that to accept the idea since she had been so reluctant when Peeta had started bringing up the subject. Eight years after the war wasn't that long. Oria had helped her accept the idea, he thought, if not reconciled her totally with the decision to have kids of her own. His baby girl was magical this way. She had done the same for him after all.

"She's too small!" Oria declared as soon as Katniss showed her the baby. "She can't play with me."

The disappointed pout was almost comical.

"You can play with her in a few years." Effie promised. "She will get bigger."

"And in the meantime, you can teach my baby girl all about being a big girl." Peeta nudged her.

A little frown creased Oria's brow. "She's _not_ the baby girl. _I_ 'm the baby girl."

"Well…" Effie winced.

"You will always be my baby girl." Haymitch cut in, not in the mood to deal with the temper tantrum he could see coming. "But Uncle Peeta is Willow's daddy so she can be his baby girl like you're mine, yeah?"

The six years old mulled that over and then gave a deep sigh that made it perfectly clear for everyone just how much she was conceding on this one. "Okay." She tossed the baby a warning glance. "But you can't be my Daddy's baby girl. I'm his only baby girl."

"'Sounds right." Katniss grinned, ruffling Oria's hair. "Do you want to hold her?"

The process was highly complicated and seemed to warrant a lot of fussing from both Effie, Katniss and Peeta. Haymitch simply leaned against the wall and watched as Oria crawled on the bed on the other side of Katniss and settled against her so her aunt could guide her tiny arms in the right position while keeping an hold on the baby at the same time. It took long minutes to settle but once it was done – with Katniss supporting most of the baby's weight but still giving the impression it was Oria who was holding her – delight soon replaced any potential jealousy on his daughter's face.

Effie and Peeta _cooed_ and _aaaw_ and, as usual, took too many pictures.

"Daddy, can we get one?" Oria asked all of a sudden.

"One what?" he asked absentmindedly.

"A baby, silly!" she laughed. "But we have to get a boy or I can't be your only baby girl." Her blue eyes darted from Katniss' stomach to Effie's. "How do you put a baby in there?"

Peeta and Katniss both choked on their laughter and Haymitch, red in the face for absolutely no good reason at all, vowed to mock them both to death in a few years when their girl would start asking the same questions.

"Your mother will explain when you're bigger." he deflected, ignoring Effie's glare. No way he was handling _that_ talk. _No way_.

"Oh… Okay." Oria shrugged. It was too easy, Haymitch mused, she was either planning to ask again later or to ask Beetee during their next phone call – he had taken to phone Beetee every time she asked too complicated questions like why the sky was blue, it kept her busy for hours and he figured it gave his friend something to do. He would have paid a lot to see Beetee's reaction if she ever asked him that though. The little girl wasn't completely done on the subject though. "So can we get one?"

"No." he replied very honestly.

She pouted again. "Why?"

"Because Mommy is too old." he deadpanned.

"Fortunately, Daddy isn't too old to sleep on the couch." Peeta whispered to Katniss who bit her bottom lip to hide her grin.

"Excuse me!" Effie huffed, glaring daggers. "I am not!"

She _was_.

But that wasn't the point and he lifted his eyebrows pointedly.

"Then we can get one, Mommy?" Oria asked, full of hope.

"No, we can't, sweetie." Effie answered. " _Daddy_ can't."

"I _so_ didn't need to know that." Katniss mumbled.

"I can still do _that_. Thank you." Haymitch snapped. "She means…" His eyes fell on Oria and the rest of his sentence trailed off. They had never explained he wasn't his biological father yet and he didn't want to do that today when their little family had just been extended. "You know _what_ she means." He couldn't have kids. "And you don't want another baby in the house, Oria. It will scream all night and keep you awake."

"I will go sleep with Mommy while you take care of him." Oria argued with a shrug.

He opened and closed his mouth, thrown by her logic and the round of laughter her answer had created.

"We're already very happy with you, Oria." Effie said, once she was done laughing. "We don't need another baby."

The pout only increased. "But I want a baby brother."

"You would have to share the geese." Haymitch declared. "You would have to share _Greta_."

That did it. She wrinkled her nose and gently petted the dark hair on Willow's head.

"I will borrow Aunt Katniss and Uncle Peeta's baby." she decided.

"Good choice, baby girl." he snorted.


	11. Playdate

Prompt : I love stories with Oria! Could you write one with Oria and Finn playing together or something like that?

 _ **Playdate**_

"Are we sure that's a good idea?" Effie asked, uncertain, watching Oria like a hawk from their beach towel.

Haymitch glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, not bothering to hide his amusement. They took a vacation in Four for a week once a year in the summer and Annie brought Finn to Twelve for a week in the winter, it had been so ever since their daughter was born. Oria was very used to Four yet Effie always fretted about the amount of sunscreen the child had on, the potential dangers lurking in the water or on the beach, the effects the sun could have on the girl if she wasn't wearing that ridiculous pink hat…

"Let her have some fun." Haymitch nudged her, his own eyes on their child. "She swims like a fish."

Katniss took her to the lake often enough that Oria was perfectly at ease in the water, waves or not. Besides, Finn was right next to her, two years older and very determined to protect "the baby". Who would protect the boy against Oria's violent tendencies when he called her like that in front of her, though, that was anyone's guess.

"I meant : are we sure that letting Johanna supervise them is a good idea?" Effie insisted, peeking at him from under the edge of her large straw hat.

Haymitch's eyes darted from Oria – who was very busy splashing Finn in the water – to Jo who was lazily swimming around them. Oria had volunteered "Auntie Jo" as their babysitter when the kids had asked to go swimming and the former victor had relented after much pleading.

"Why wouldn't it be?" he replied just when the kids switched games. Their little heads bowed together for a second and then, without any warnings, they both jumped on Johanna at the same time. Seven's victor went underwater and Haymitch didn't even try to suppress his snickers, glad to have been spared the chore of watching the children. Separately they were already a handful but when they were together, Oria and Finn were almost too much to handle. "If anything, she's the one who's going to drown."

Just then, Johanna resurfaced and even though they were quite a distance away, her colorful swearing was completely audible.

"Because of her language." Effie sighed. "She's _your_ friend, _you_ will deal with this when your daughter comes back swearing like a lumberjack."

She huffed and laid back down, working on her tan.

Haymitch rolled his eyes, annoyed at how dramatic she always needed to be.

Until he heard Oria's piercing voice repeating one of Jo's favorite curse, quickly joined by Finn.

He pretended really hard he didn't see Effie's 'I told you so' face.


	12. Proper Outfits For Picnics

Prompt : Here's an idea for your list: Could you write something where Haymitch and Effie look for clothes for toddler Oria? Effie wants to dress her like a little princess and Haymitch is like no and prefers Katniss' style? And maybe little Oria could be on Haymitch's lap and he tries to influence his baby girl?

 _ **Proper Outfits For Picnics**_

"We're going to the meadow, not to some fancy party, sweetheart." Haymitch snorted.

Effie refused to dignify that with an answer.

"We're going to the meadow!" Oria sing-sang tirelessly, complying easily enough with her mother's wishes and letting her button up the pink dress.

"We are going to a picnic not on a trek through the woods." she argued. "A dress is a suitable form of clothing for a picnic or are you complaining about _my_ outfit now?"

Haymitch smirked, leaning against the bathroom doorframe. "Can't complain about tight dresses on you. Always a good view when your back is turned."

"Haymitch!" she hissed. "Not in front of our daughter!"

Oria started laughing even though Effie was sure she had not quite understood what that was about.

"Daddy got told off!" the three years old exclaimed with far too much glee. "Daddy gets punished?"

"Mommy wishes, baby girl. Wanna bet she wants to spank me?" Haymitch replied to their daughter growing hilarity.

"Haymitch!" she exclaimed again, flushing crimson. "Don't listen to Daddy. He is being as silly as usual."

"Still think the dress is stupid." he argued, coming back to the topic at hand. "She's going to get dirty and I will have to listen to you complain about stains you can't get out."

"Well, if you did the laundry now and then…" she retorted.

"I'm just saying." he shrugged. "'Would be easier to put her in old pants or something."

He was faced with two equally shocked gasps.

" _Old pants_." Effie scoffed. "You expect me to let _my_ daughter run around looking less than her best? I don't care about stains, she can play all she wants. I'd rather she gets pretty clothes dirty than walk around in rugged clothes in fear she will stain them."

"I like my pink dress!" Oria added with the kind of pout that usually gave way to tantrums. "I don't want pants."

"Okay, okay!" Haymitch relented, raising his hands defensively. "There's no winning against the two of you."

"Clearly." Effie huffed, smoothing their daughter's lovely pink dress. "All done, sweetie."

Oria jumped from where she was perched and ran off, loudly announcing that she was going to get Mr Grrr – she went nowhere without her stuffed bear. Effie picked up the wayward hair ties and clips and put them back in their proper place, instinctively leaning back against Haymitch's chest when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I am not dressing her up like a doll." Effie argued before he could say anything. "I want her to have pretty clothes but that doesn't mean I don't want her to run and play and… be free. I don't mind the stains and the torn clothes if that means she's enjoying herself. I am _not_ dressing her up like a doll."

Her mother had done that most of her childhood : buying her wonderful outfits, dressing her up, boasting her out in front her friends, all the while expecting her to not fidget, to be still, to smile, to look pretty… She could still remember the endless list of reminders before each social events or outings or tea parties. She had heard them since she was born.

Her mother would have probably been appalled by the way Effie was raising her daughter but she loved to see Oria run and play outside with Katniss and Haymitch or bake with Peeta even when they made a mess of the child's clothes. She loved to see her daughter being allowed to be wild once in a while because she had never been granted the same liberty.

"Never said you were, Princess." Haymitch argued softly, pressing a kiss against the side of her neck. "Just thought pants were more practical. Boy thing, I guess. She seems happy with the pink dress so who cares about my opinion? She will be a little fashion expert in no time." He pressed a last lingering kiss against her neck. "You're good?"

Her fingers were shaking as they tended to do when she was on the verge of a panic attack. She knew he had noticed. She refused to spoil the day with her insecurities and bad memories though. It was a sunny, warm day outside and she was determined to see that the picnic would go without a glitch.

"Perfect." she declared, turning her head so she could kiss him properly.

Of course, she thought, half an hour later, when they reached the meadows and waved back to Katniss and Peeta who were already laying out blankets and cutlery for their picnic, the day going without a glitch wasn't taking into account Oria running to her Aunt and Uncle and screaming at the top of her lungs for everyone to hear that her Daddy had been naughty and her Mommy would spank him later.


	13. Secrets

Prompt : I love your Hayffie stories! Specially Oriaverse! (Kicking the odds) She's such a sweet baby... I wonder how will she learn about Haymitch not being her bio father, could you write something about it? Pretty Please!

 _ **Secrets**_

Haymitch had just placed a cup of strawberry tea on the kitchen table in front of Effie when the backdoor opened only to be slammed shut after their daughter. Haymitch and Effie exchanged a tired glance. It was funny, he thought, how proficient they had become at having silent arguments since Oria had turned thirteen and had entered what they had privately labelled "the age of doom". They had always been able to have silent conversations of course, almost thirteen years of working together and another thirteen years of marriage had made them quite attuned to each other but now… Now it was more about _Should we say something?, Is it worth an argument?, Do we still have pills for headaches?_

Haymitch almost regretted the good old times when Katniss was sixteen and a pain in the ass because Oria was ten times worse.

Since there wasn't much she could complain about, she had taken to rebel through her outfits and her tastes were as bad as Effie's had been. She mixed Capitol with District style and the result was… _unique_ to say the least. Effie had been over the moon until Oria had declared her mother was clearly behind on the fashion side of things, not to say that she was clearly old-fashioned – Haymitch had laughed for two hours straight. He had stopped laughing when Oria had gone and dyed her hair a bright purple. She had only snorted at Effie's suggestion that she tried wigs and had claimed to be really misunderstood by both her parents.

Haymitch would have been willing to overlook the way she dressed, too used to Effie's eccentricities even now, but her general behavior was verging on unbearable most days. She was snappish, she talked back, she picked up a fight for every possible subject…

"Sweetie, please, don't slam the door." Effie requested through clenched teeth, ignoring his silent plea to let it go. "Did you have a good day at school?"

Oria threw her bag in a corner more than she dropped it and finally turned to them. There were tears in her blue eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked at once. Effie was already pushing to her feet and reaching out for her but Oria stepped back and Effie froze, taken aback by the anger in their daughter's eyes.

"I went to the Hobb." the girl said. She was making an effort to keep her voice even but Haymitch simply knew it would crack soon and she would start sobbing her heart out – he knew his daughter like nobody else except maybe Effie – and he _hated_ seeing her hurt. He didn't know what had happened but he would find out who made her cry like that and he would make sure it _never_ happened again. "I know _everything_."

"Everything?" Effie frowned. She tried to get closer again but Oria stepped back. "Everything about what? Sweetie, you're not making any sense… What happened? Are you hurt?"

She obviously _wasn't_ hurt – not physically at least – but it had always been Effie's worst nightmare ever since her birth.

"Daneel told _everyone_." Oria insisted and, this time, tears spilled from her eyes and rolled down on her cheeks. She wiped them off angrily with her sleeve. It made Effie frown deeper but she didn't chide her about not using a handkerchief.

Daneel was the girl Oria was always picking fights with at school which meant it was probably a girl problem and, as such, it was up to Effie to fix it. He leaned against the kitchen counter, feeling a little better. Oria had her mother's habit of doing a grand theatrical scene out of nothing.

"What did she say?" Effie asked sympathetically and, maybe, with a bit of annoyance. Fights with Daneel had been going on for as long as Haymitch could remember, over the years it had morphed into a fight between their mothers too. "Do you need me to talk to her parents again?"

"Her parents." Oria scoffed. "Her parents told her and she told _everyone_! I thought she was lying, I told them all she was lying but then I went to the Hobb and I asked Graesy Sae and _she_ doesn't lie, not like _you_." She pointed an accusing finger at Effie's chest.

"Calm down a bit." Haymitch cut in. "You're upset, okay, but that's no excuse to speak to your mother like that."

Oria's eyes darted his way but they quickly focused on Effie again. "I _hate_ you."

That was new.

"Orianna!" he barked when Effie took an involuntary step back, clearly hurt. "Go to your room."

He wasn't prepared for the sneer. "I don't have to listen to _you."_

"Orianna!" It was Effie's turn to snap but it wasn't more effective than his rebuff.

"Does he even know?" Oria chuckled but it was a bitter sound that had no place in their daughter's mouth. "Or did you take advantage of the fact he was drunk all the time?"

Both he and Effie remained frozen in place, unprepared for that kind of attack. It was far from the familiar bickering they had come to expect everyday as a teenager thing. This cut deeper.

Haymitch turned his head away, ashamed and humiliated beyond words.

"You're going too far." Effie hissed. She was fuming. "I don't know what has upset you so but if you are unable to express yourself calmly then you better go to your room and only come down when you're ready to apologize and to explain your behavior."

Oria didn't even listen to half of her rant. "Does he know I'm not his daughter, Mom?"

It was like a punch to the stomach and he could tell, from the way she hunched over briefly, that Effie felt the same way. _Fuck_ , was all Haymitch could think. The subject had never been brought up before and they never saw any reason to tell her because, to be honest, most of the time, they forgot. Orianna had been his ever since Effie had come knocking at his door and he had never thought twice about that.

"Does he?" Oria was careful not to look at him. She was only staring at her mother, big silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

Effie seemed unable to reply. She was gripping the back of a chair with both of her hands as if it would save her from drowning.

"I might have been drunk a lot back then, baby girl, but the six months pregnant belly when I hadn't seen her in two years was enough clue. Not to mention the vasectomy." he snorted.

"This… This is not a time for sarcasms, Haymitch." Effie stuttered, looking at him with a pained look that took him back to nightmarish memories of the Quell and his second Reaping. When she turned back to her daughter, her face was pleading. "Oria, sweetie…"

But there was no reprieve to be found there. "Who's my father? The _real_ one?"

He tried not to show how much those words hurt but Effie only had to glance at him to notice.

" _Haymitch_ is your father." she stated firmly. "As for your biological father…" She looked around the kitchen, unable to focus on anything. She was gripping that chair so tight her knuckles were turning white. "You… You need to understand, I was in a very bad place at the time and…"

"Effie…" he said quietly, alarmed by the quickening of her breathing. He knew the signs like the back of his hand. It had been years since her last panic attack and even more since her last flashback but the nightmares were still plaguing her when she was upset or stressed and the memories were still there, waiting to be triggered.

"I'm fine." she whispered.

" _Who_ is my father?" Oria shouted, almost stomping her foot.

"You calm down, _right now_." Haymitch snapped, walking closer to Effie. She flinched when he touched her arm and he lowered his voice. "I won't stand for tantrums. You're upset, okay, you have a right to be, but if you want answers, shouting isn't the way to get them."

"I want to know who my father is." Oria stammered, more and more tears escaping her eyes. Haymitch wanted nothing more than to reach for her and hug her until her sorrow disappeared like he used to when she was little but he sensed she wouldn't let him. She would push him away.

"I don't know." Effie finally confessed. She closed her eyes. "I'm _sorry_ , Oria, we should have told you before. It honestly slipped my mind, I… Haymitch had been there for…"

"How can you not know?" their daughter interrupted.

Effie's breathing was too quick. He placed a hand on her elbow, anticipating a fall that didn't come. She didn't even glance at him. He wasn't even sure she knew he was there.

"I was… in a dark place." she said again lamely.

"Is that the polite way to say you were a slut?" Oria sneered angrily.

Haymitch surprised himself when he slammed his fist on the table. He wasn't prone to bouts of violence and both Oria and Effie jumped in fright. The familiar thirst clenched his throat, the urge to wash away his problems with alcohol was strong but he had been sober for years and he would remain that way.

"You better watch your mouth." he warned his daughter.

Oria was afraid, he could tell, unfortunately his and Katniss' influence had been too strong, she had taken after their stubborn nature, instead of backing down she thrusted her chin in the air. It was a challenge and not one Haymitch wanted to take her up on.

"So you were a slut, you ended up with a baby and what?" She was pushing her luck and she knew it. "You came back for your drunkard colleague thinking he would be too drunk to notice? 'Cause that's the story I heard."

Being called a drunkard by his thirteen years old daughter was one of the worst thing that had happened to Haymitch. He thought he had lived through worse but that word in her mouth…

Effie leaned against him or maybe he leaned against Effie, he wasn't sure. Either way, he was glad for the support.

There was a long and painful silence that was only troubled by Oria's pitiful sniffing in her attempts to keep the sobs in. Effie was shaking, her fingers were clenching the back of the chair and then releasing in unconscious spasms. The tension was more than he could take. He felt as if the shadow of the Games had come back to haunt him, the memories of Effie's disappearance, her tortures, the aftermath…

"Go to your room." he ordered at last.

It was a mistake, he realized it at once, because Oria was upset and she had never taken kindly to being dismissed. The sobs finally broke free, fat tears that were too big for her and that kept coming no matter how many times she rubbed her eyes.

"I don't have to listen to you!" she shouted. "You aren't my Dad! You are nothing but the drunk she took advantage of! You are nothing! You…"

Effie moved so fast Haymitch didn't even have enough time to recoil from Oria's verbal attack. One second she was next to him, the next she was in front of their daughter. The slap echoed loudly in the kitchen, stunning both Oria and Haymitch. They had never _ever_ lifted a hand on their child. Threats of spankings had always been enough when she was acting out too much, as for slaps… Striking out in anger wasn't something either of them wanted to consider. But Effie was beyond angry, he realized quickly, she was outraged.

"You will never _ever_ disrespect your father again." Effie told her coldly. "Haymitch _is_ your father in every way that counts. He gave you his name. He gave you a roof. He gave you his love and everything he had to offer. He is a good man, _the best man I know_. Judge me all you want, scorn me if you must but you have absolutely _no_ _rights_ to call him that kind of names and you better not do it again in my hearing." Oria was looking at her with wide eyes, a hand pressed to her burning cheek, but Effie didn't relent. "You don't understand how it was. How could you? You don't understand what they did… What…"

"Effie." he tried but he knew it was too late.

"You don't understand." she repeated, heaving with every word. Her eyes were glazed over. Haymitch almost didn't have time to catch her before her legs gave in. He broke her fall as best as he could and help her sit down on the floor. She scrambled to the corner, her back to the kitchen counter, and curled up in a tight ball.

"What's going on?" Oria shrieked, more scared than she had ever been. "What's happening?"

"You and your big mouth, that's what happening." he grumbled, crouching next to Effie's shaking frame. His knees popped in protest but he didn't care about that. He didn't dare touch her just yet though.

"Is she alright?" the girl panicked, coming closer. Effie only curled tighter at the noise.

"Stay where you are." he ordered. It was all a right mess.

"Is she alright, Daddy?" Oria insisted, openly weeping now.

"Oh, I'm _Daddy_ again now, right?" he snorted without any amusement.

"I'm sorry." Oria whimpered. "I'm _sorry_ …"

"I know, I know." he sighed, rubbing his face. Effie was mumbling something he couldn't quite catch. As far as panic attack went, it was bad. "Go to Peeta and Katniss and stay there."

"But, Daddy…" she tried to argue.

"Go, _now_." he snapped. She ran away, tears streaming down her face. He forced himself to believe she would be alright with the kids, he _knew_ she would be alright with the kids. He had to focus on Effie. "Come back, sweetheart." He was careful to keep his voice soft and non-threatening. "It's over. It's just a bad dream."

He was about to try to place a hand on her arm when the backdoor was violently slammed open again and Effie let out a frightened whine. Katniss froze, wild eyes and worry on her face. The worry gradually disappeared when she realized what was happening.

"Is she having a panic attack?" she asked "Oria said she collapsed, we thought…" She breathed out in relief. "We thought she was having a heart attack or something."

"She's fine." he barked. He didn't know which one of them he was trying to convince but Katniss didn't take offence. She simply told him to call if they needed anything and left without another comment. It might have been years but they were all very used to each other's panic attacks after all.

He sat down next to Effie and waited a few minutes after Katniss had left before reaching for her again. She still flinched.

"It's me, sweetheart." he promised.

"Haymitch?" It was soft and hesitant but when he confirmed it was him, she relaxed against him. He held her tight, petting her hair and pressing his lips against her forehead. It took a long time before the shaking finally subsided. Her body was limp by the time she was completely aware of her surroundings again.

"You think you can walk to the couch, now?" he asked. "We're a bit old to sit on the floor, Princess."

She nodded and they helped each other up, awkwardly and not very efficiently. She was exhausted and he wasn't young anymore. It was almost embarrassing.

"Where is Oria?" she started as soon as she was sitting on the couch. "We should… We made a mistake, Haymitch, we…"

"Would you stop worrying?" he grumbled, forcing her to lie down. "You get some rest, I will handle Oria." He threw the blanket on her and tucked her in despite her protests exactly like he used to tuck their daughter at nights.

The panic attack had worn her out but she still tried to argue with him. "She's upset. It's not her fault. Go take care of her, I will be fine."

He didn't argue the point because, truth be told, now that she was feeling better, he was growing anxious about their daughter.

"We handled that poorly." she whispered. "I _slapped_ her."

"Well, she _did_ call you a slut twice." Haymitch grunted with suppressed anger. "She had it coming."

"She was upset…" Effie defended her quickly. "But what she said about you…"

"Nothing but the truth, though." he shrugged. "I was a drunk."

Effie's eyes were shining with tears when she brushed a hand against his cheek. "You always were so much more than that…"

The display of emotions made him feel ill-at-ease and he dropped a kiss on her forehead quickly. "I'm going to check on Oria. I will send one of the kids to take care of you."

He ignored her protests that she didn't need it and that he shouldn't bother them. Peeta, when he found him with Oria sitting on the pen fence, was only too happy to go inside and look after Effie. Oria didn't look up.

Her eyes were dry but her cheeks were crimson. It clashed with her ridiculous purple hair.

"What did I say about sitting on that fence?" he grumbled over the honking of the geese who probably thought dinner time had come.

"Not to?" she sniffed, rubbing at her eyes.

His heart sunk in his chest. He hated seeing one of his kids upset and Oria more than Katniss or Peeta. "So, why are you?"

His attempt to bring them back on more familiar ground didn't work very well. Oria did jump from the fence but only to throw her arms around his waist and start crying again. "I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry. I didn't mean to upset Mommy, I'm sorry." It was weird, he mused, how quickly she reverted to _Mommy_ and _Daddy_ when she was distressed instead of the careless _Mom_ and _Dad_ she had been using as of late. "I didn't mean to say… I didn't mean to call you… I…"

"It's okay, baby girl." he sighed. "We should have told you, I guess. But you _will_ go and apologize to your mother anyway. It wasn't her fault, none of it. If you want somebody to hate, hate _me_." If he had protected Effie better during the rebellion… But when he saw Oria, he couldn't quite regret it. They wouldn't have her otherwise.

"But I _don't_!" Oria drew back to look at him with pleading eyes. "I love you, Daddy. I don't know why I said that…"

"People say stupid things when they're angry." he shrugged before meeting her blue eyes – _so like Effie's_ , he mused. "You get that it doesn't change anything, right? We never told you because… We forgot. You're mine. You've always been mine as far as I'm concerned." She hugged him again but as much as he would have loved to put the conversation behind them and pretend it never happened, it wasn't done yet. There was another topic to discuss. "You shouldn't be mad at your Mom. She did her best. Sometimes… Sometimes people don't know how to cope and they do stupid things like… drink a lot." _Drink a lot_ was a pretty euphemism for being wasted out of his mind every hour of the day, he thought proudly. "Or… other things."

"What's wrong with Mom?" she asked, stepping away from him and closer to the pen. She leaned over to look at the geese. "Uncle Peeta said it's a panic attack and it can happen when she remembers bad memories. What kind of bad memories? What happened to her?"

He wondered if she really didn't remember how regularly panic attacks had featured in her life when she was younger. Between Effie, Katniss, Peeta and him, the first three years of her life had been punctuated by the recurrent surfacing of their respective trauma. It had died down after that. Five years after the rebellion the feeling that everything was truly behind them had started to sink in. They had mourned their dead, they had accepted that they would never be able to change things and they had carried on but the past had never left them. The past was always lurking close by, ready to strike when they weren't looking.

"You know what happened." he replied cautiously, leaning against the fence beside her. "She was taken by the Capitol."

He didn't like talking about that. Oria had learned everything there was to know about the Games eventually but they had all stuck to a basic retelling of their story. It had been difficult enough. The Panem she learned about in history books was nothing but a story for her, what they had told her was nothing but a story, she had been too young to understand fully at the time and now… He didn't want to go into that now. "She was taken by the Capitol" was word for word what they had told her at the time to try and explain… It was nothing but words, though. It held no meaning.

"But what _happened_?" she insisted. "Do you know?"

He did. In painful details.

Ignorance truly was bliss.

"It's not my story to tell, Oria." he answered. "And don't go asking her." He took a deep breath and hoped he wasn't doing a mistake. Thirteen was young to talk about that sort of things but thirteen was also old enough, he supposed. "She was hurt, that's all you need to know. She tried to forget and she did a lot of stupid things, the kind I will kill you for if I ever catch you doing them. When she found out she was pregnant with you, she stopped and she got her life together. She came home. She didn't trick me or anything. I knew everything there was to know." He shrugged. "I was happy about it after I stopped freaking out. I never regretted it, not once. She used to call you her miracle, you know. Maybe you were mine as well."

He mumbled the last part, uncomfortable with revealing that much.

She stared at him for a long time and he could almost see the wheels and cogs turning inside her head. She was clever but she was also calculating, he had made sure of it. She didn't ask any questions, she _wouldn't_ ask any question, not to him anyway. She would probably probe Peeta and Katniss or even phone Johanna or little Finn who wasn't so little anymore.

"Can I go see Mom, now?" she asked.

"Don't wake her up if she's sleeping." he warned.

Effie, however, wasn't sleeping but arguing with Peeta to be allowed off the couch, trying to push back the cup of tea he wanted to give her. He barely had time to get the steaming cup out of the way before Oria ran to her mother.

"Everything's good, now?" Peeta asked when he joined him on the threshold.

Haymitch watched his girls cling to each other.

"More than good." he replied.

Or, at least, it would be again soon.


	14. The Circle of Life

Prompt : Hi, I have a few things I wanted to say. The first is that I love your writing and I think your Hayffie stories should be published. :D Two questions: Do you have any playlist? and How did you come up with the name Oria? Where did you get that from? It's my current favorite name. ^^ Now a request (if you're still taking prompts!): Could you write a story with Oria where one of her geese dies? I know it's mean but I'd like to see Haymitch trying to comfort her. Thanks for your time! Bye .o/

 _About the playlist thing, I have a special tag on my Tumblr « hayffie music » and you can find me on 8tracks at "RunYouCleverBoy" for playlists. =)_

 _As for Oria, it is short for Orianna and it means "dawn" or "rising of the sun" and I thought it was perfect for a hayffie kid because just like Helios in Must Be Something In The Water, she brings them joy and light. You can read the long discussion about baby names in "Kicking The Odds" ;)_

 _ **The Circle Of Life**_

Breakfast was always a complicated affair, Effie mused as she placed a glass of orange juice in front of her six years old daughter, but it was also a joyful one. It was probably the time of day she liked best: Oria sitting at the table, waving her little legs under her chair despite her mother's recurrent admonitions to behave properly, and Haymitch at the stove, trying to cook something edible, muttering obscenities under his breath more often than not while she prepared coffee.

"We're out of eggs." he said. "Go get them, baby girl, and feed the geese while you're at it."

Oria bolted from her chair with a happy cry, rushing to the purple wellington boots lying in wait next to the kitchen door.

"Are you sure?" Effie asked, chewing on her bottom lip in worry, like she did most mornings. She didn't like the idea of Oria going into the pen alone but her daughter loved it and had accepted the chore readily.

"She will be fine." Haymitch dismissed her concerns. "You know the rules, Oria." He tossed the child the bag with the food for the geese and the little girl nodded eagerly.

"No bothering them. No poking. No getting close if they quack. Grab the eggs only if they're not too close." Oria recited dutifully. "I can go now?"

"Yeah." Haymitch snorted. "Leave the pen open so they can get some exercise."

Oria was gone in a dash, leaving only a trail of cheerful laughter in her wake. Effie walked to the window and peered in the backyard, surveying the proceedings to make sure nothing would happen to her. Arms sneaked around her waist and turned her around.

"You worry way too much." Haymitch declared. "She does it every morning, nothing happened to her yet."

"I dislike the _yet_ part of this sentence." Effie huffed. "What if they peck her?"

"Then they peck her and she will be more careful next time." he shrugged. "She's tough, our girl, she will survive."

He looked so proud she couldn't help but shake her head and respond to the kiss he pressed against her lips without a second thought. She loved her family so much… It sometimes felt as if her life before Oria didn't belong to her, as if it had been lived by a stranger. The kiss grew more heated and she grinned against Haymitch's mouth, happy that he was still so eager after so many years together.

"Daddy?"

Effie almost jumped out of her skin. Oria was anything but quiet, she was always loud and boisterous and her approach was heard from feet away. Yet, when she saw her daughter on the kitchen threshold, with wobbling lips and teary eyes, a bird carefully nestled in her arms, its limp neck propped against her shoulder, she understood at once that the happy family breakfast was done with.

"Betsie doesn't want to wake up." Oria said. "I think she's sick… She's all cold."

"Oh, sweetie…" Effie breathed out, exchanging a quick glance with Haymitch. She rushed to her daughter but her hands froze inches away from the dead goose, disgust rising in her throat. "Put it down, sweetie, and we will wash your hands, yes?"

"Give her there." Haymitch said, taking the bird from Oria.

He laid the bird on the floor but Effie didn't pause to look, she grabbed her daughter under the armpits and brought her to the sink, instructing her to use a lot of soap. Who knew what kind of germs a dead bird carried? Oria complied but she twisted her head so her eyes never left the goose.

"What's wrong with Betsie?" she asked.

Haymitch winced but didn't answer, looking at Effie with an almost pleading expression. Of course, he would leave the difficult explanations to her, _of course_. Betsie wasn't one of her daughter's favorite, fortunately. It wouldn't soften the blow but Betsie wasn't Greta. If it had been Greta… Well it would have been a lot worse.

She sat Oria on the table – despite her own rules that furniture didn't make for proper seats and that there were chairs for that purpose – just so she could see her better without having to crouch.

"Betsie is gone, sweetie." she told her daughter gently. "I'm very sorry."

The wobbling lips wobbled even more and tears escaped her blue eyes but Oria was trying very hard not to cry.

"But she's not gone, she's just here." the child argued, pointing at the dead bird, with a confused expression. "Tell her to wake up, Mommy."

"I can't tell her to wake up, Oria, she's gone." There was a lump in Effie's throat and she didn't even like the _damned_ bird.

"She's dead, baby girl." Haymitch added, not so helpfully.

Effie could tell Oria had understood at some level that Betsie wouldn't be coming back but couldn't reconcile it with past experience. In her six short years of life, Oria had blissfully never known death.

"What's it mean?" the little girl asked in a small voice, more tears rolling down her cheeks.

Effie softly wiped them away with her own sleeve, barely sparing a thought for her outfit or her daughter's less than stellar grammar. "It means… Sometimes, when it's their time, pets and people die. Everything has its time. And it was time for Betsie."

"What's it mean die?" Oria insisted.

"It means your mind goes to heaven." she explained. It was far-stretched and she saw Haymitch lifting his eyebrows in a surprised – and perhaps disapproving – fashion but Effie didn't correct herself. The lesson Oria was learning that day was harsh enough without adding philosophical debates to it.

"Everyone dies?" the child asked. "Even me? Even you?"

In the corner of her eyes, she saw Haymitch shaking his head and knew exactly what he was thinking. Trust Oria to think about herself first, she was too much like her.

"Not for a very long time." Haymitch cut in. "I don't want you thinking about that. Nothing will happen to you or to your Mommy."

"And you?" Oria cried out. "I don't want you to die!"

"Nobody is dying, sweetie." Effie promised, gathering her in her arms and shooting a glare at Haymitch. Oria wrapped her arms around her neck and clung to her waist with her legs like a little monkey, so Effie had no choice but to carry her. She was too heavy to do that now but Effie didn't complain. Her daughter needed comfort and she would provide it. "It's alright, Oria."

"I don't want Betsie to go to heaven!" Oria wailed, fully sobbing now. "Tell her to come back!"

"She can't come back, sweetie." Effie said apologetically. "You can't come back from there."

Her heart was breaking for her daughter and all that talk about death was making her uncomfortable.

"I want Betsie!" Oria sobbed, growing even more distressed.

"I know, baby, I know." Effie whispered, rocking her gently. Tears of frustration at her own helplessness burned her eyes. Haymitch quietly shuffled away, carrying the bird outside – out of sight – and disappeared upstairs. He came back a few minutes later with Oria's stuffed bear. Their daughter snatched Mr Grrr from her father's hand and buried her face in the crook of Effie's neck once more.

Eventually, she exhausted herself and sobs became breathless hiccups. She sipped from the glass of water Haymitch handed her but she ultimately fell asleep in Effie's arms.

"That wasn't something I wanted to deal with today." Haymitch sighed.

Effie sat down on a chair, careful not to jostle her daughter, feeling exhausted herself. "You need to find a box big enough for Betsie and to dig a hole in the backyard."

He stared at her as if she was crazy. "You're seriously not saying what I think you're saying."

"What else do you want to do?" she snapped, out of patience.

"Stew?" he joked but it fell flat.

"In the Capitol, when our pets die we bury them." Effie retorted, almost challenging him to argue. "It will help her grieve."

He rolled his eyes but gave in, not without muttering about how absurd and ridiculous Capitol people were.

When Oria eventually woke up, she wasn't as enthusiastic about the idea of a funeral as Effie hoped she would be. Haymitch had found a big cardboard box and she suggested Oria should decorate it, promising Betsie would have loved it, but her daughter's attempts with her felt-tip pens were dubious. It was Oria's idea to ask Peeta to do the decorating and Effie nodded her agreement, being quite useless at drawing herself when it didn't involve clothing. Instead of running to the children's house though, the little girl used the phone – which was probably a first – but she was reluctant to let Effie out of her sight. She clung to her dress, sat on her lap and followed her all around the house.

Peeta was there in a matter of minutes, followed by Katniss who quickly made an escape when she realized just how upset Oria was, just as uncomfortable as Haymitch had been with the child's distress. Peeta did an awesome job both with the box and with Oria. She wasn't her usual chatty self but she opened up a little.

She still almost threw a fit when Effie tried to leave the kitchen to check on Haymitch's progress. It took her ten minutes to convince Oria she would be alright with Peeta and that she wasn't going to disappear if she left for a little while.

"We're burying food now." Katniss was saying without any humor, leaning against a shovel, when Effie stepped outside. "Times _really_ have changed."

"Wouldn't eat it anyway. Don't know what she died from." Haymitch retorted, out of breath, waist deep in a hole. "Too fat maybe. Her heart probably gave out."

They were both covered in dirt and sweat and she insisted they changed before the actual funeral, even though Haymitch argued they would only get dirty again when they buried the box. She also refused to let Oria place Betsie in the box despite her pleas to be the one to do it. It might have been stupid but she didn't want her daughter touching dead things. She couldn't bear the thought. Katniss had no qualm about it so she placed Betsie on the nest of grass and hay Oria had prepared for her and closed the box.

The actual funeral was quite nice – for a goose's funeral. They all dressed up and said a few nice things – mostly invented on the children's and Effie's part – about Betsie. Oria swore to never forget her and started crying again but she didn't get upset to the point of falling asleep which Effie counted as small victory.

Haymitch later declared that the small wooden mark and the bunch of wild flowers in the backyard were over the top – not to mention creepy – Effie retorted it was at the back end and wasn't visible from the house so it would have to do. There were no pet cemeteries in Twelve.

Oria spent the whole afternoon outside, trailing behind Greta with the rest of her goslings while Effie watched from the window. Haymitch had once told her the goose must have been thinking Oria was one of hers because she had been chasing after it ever since she could walk. Each time Oria stopped or lingered too far behind, Greta stopped and honked as if to call her back in line with the rest of her offspring. Effie prayed that this particular goose lived a long and healthy life.

The true problem arose in the late afternoon though. Effie had been busy in the study and it was the shouts and screams that made her hurry outside, almost certain another disaster had occurred. The disaster was in the making. She reached the backyard just as Oria stumped her foot, arms folded over her chest with a stubborn expression on her face in the characteristic pose of a tantrum. Haymitch had been wrapped around her little finger ever since she was born but there was one thing he didn't stand for and that was a tantrum.

"Be very careful how you speak to me, Orianna." he warned. "I know you're upset but it's no excuse to talk like that."

"You're a meanie and I don't care and if you don't let me I will tell Mommy!" Oria shouted back.

"You do that." Haymitch snapped, nodding at Effie before going back to herding the geese inside the pen for the night. "She will just love it."

"What in Panem is going on?" Effie asked, astonished.

"I want Greta and the babies to sleep in my room." Oria declared, turning to her with puppy eyes. "I will make them a nest and everything."

"Absolutely not." she replied without even a second of thinking it through. Oria lifted her foot and Effie narrowed her eyes. "Don't you _dare_ stomp your foot. Who stomp their foot?"

"Spoiled brats." her daughter mumbled, kicking the earth instead.

"And who _don't_ stomp their foot?" she insisted.

"Ladies." Oria sighed in a tone that let her know she was exasperated.

"Watch it, Orianna." Haymitch warned again from inside the pen.

"Sorry." the child answered, not sounding sorry at all. She knew that when her parents used her whole name, it usually meant trouble. Effie was leaning toward leniency though, their daughter had had a difficult day after all.

"Why would you even want the geese in the house?" Effie frowned. "You know they're dirty. They would make a mess of everything."

"I don't want Greta and her babies to die." Oria pouted. "Betsie was here and she died."

"Betsie would have died anywhere else, baby girl. It's sad but life is sad sometimes." Haymitch offered, leaning against the side of the pen. "And Greta would be very unhappy in the house. She needs to be outside with the other geese to be happy like you need to be with us. You wouldn't like anyone taking you away from your family, yeah? Well, it's the same for Greta."

"Greta will still be here tomorrow, I promise you." Effie whispered, offering her hand to her daughter. "Now come inside, it's time for your bath. I bought the pink bubble bath you like."

"Pink like raspberries?" Oria looked up, suddenly more interested.

"Pink like raspberries." she confirmed, as the little girl latched herself on her hand.

Even the pink bubble bath wasn't enough to take Oria's sorrow away but, Effie mused, as much as Haymitch and her wanted to, there would be no shielding her from certain aspects of life.


	15. The Fairy-Princess

Prompt : I would like to request a prompt: I know you've recently written about a 15 year old Oria; however, my prompt would be for when she was 7 and it was her birthday. So, Hayffie threw a birthday party for her and Haymitch had to dress up like a fairy princess- got this idea from the beginning of Despicable me 2. Thank you XD

 _This is crack. Utter crack. XD_

 _ **The Fairy-Princess**_

"This is a catastrophe!" Effie's voice exclaimed from the kitchen, breaking the nice bubble of silence Haymitch had found in his living-room. He immediately bolted off the couch and pretended to be looking around for something – because if the former escort caught him hiding inside when there were a dozen or so kids in the backyard, she would probably have killed him.

Oria's seventh birthday party was just as smashing as any party Effie had ever organized. There was a bouncing castle, a magician, more ice cream than was reasonable, too many presents in his opinion, and a lot of sugar-pumped children running amok, screaming, wailing and running after each other. Haymitch had developed a headache after barely five minutes.

"Calm down, Trinket." Johanna's voice spat. "So what? She won't have a fairy-princess… That's not the end of the world."

"But you don't understand… She was looking forward so much to the fairy-princess…" Effie's voice grew closer and, surely enough, the two women appeared in the living-room. "Oh, here you are, Haymitch… You will never believe this! The fairy-princess cancelled. No warning at all!"

Effie was obviously fuming and Haymitch almost felt bad for the person who would certainly experience her wrath the next day when she would be free to rant and threaten to sue for bad customer service. On the other hand, he was sharing her frustration. The bouncy castle, magician and ice-cream stand had been Effie's idea, all Oria had asked for was the fairy-princess.

She had outgrew the "princesses are stupid" phase and was now very enamored with the idea of fairy-princesses, hunter-princesses and anything-princesses really. She was never as happy as when she could play with her princess doll and its princess outfits.

The solution however seemed obvious to him. "Why don't you do it?"

"Me?" Effie chuckled. "That's a very nice thought, Haymitch, but who will watch the children? I cannot play the princess and make sure everything runs smoothly and I highly doubt you will want to be in charge of fifteen children."

His grey eyes fell on Johanna who immediately lifted her hands in a defensive gesture.

"Hell, no!" the former victor spat. "I came for your daughter's birthday not to remember what it feels to be dressed and paraded around like a _fucking_ piece of meat. Ask Annie."

Except Annie had left little Finn at the party and had run away with Katniss and Peeta at the earliest opportunity – they were supposedly gone to get the cake but Haymitch had his doubts. It didn't take an hour to get a cake from a fifteen minutes walk bakery. He rather thought they had seen the number of kids, had been scared and had fled the scene.

"Annie isn't available." Effie sighed, walking to the window to peer in the garden. "We can't let them unsupervised for too long… Well, I suppose we will have to pass on the fairy-princess. Oria is going to be _so_ disappointed…"

Haymitch's shoulders sagged as if he had personally let his daughter down. Of course, that didn't prevent him from feeling Johanna's calculating gaze on him nor to glimpse the spark of mischief in there.

He opened his mouth to tell her to shut up before she could say something she would regret but it was already too late.

"Haymitch can do it." Johanna suggested. "A wig, some pink fabric, a _lot_ of make-up… Who would see the difference?"

"Jo…" he growled, waiting for Effie to tell her off about wasting her time.

He didn't like the appraising way his wife was looking at him all of a sudden.

"No _bloody_ way, sweetheart!" he swore.

Of course, swearing only got him that far because the second she pointed out how delighted Oria would be to have a fairy-princess after all, he was gone. He would do anything to see his daughter's eyes spark with happiness.

Johanna was tasked with the mission to watch the kids while Effie transformed him into a fairy-princess – how she was going to do that, he didn't know, but she had worked miracles before.

She grabbed a pink tablecloth – the one Haymitch had purposely shoved at the bottom of the drawer – and forced it on him, her scissors and needles dancing left and right. She cut and sew so fast he was half afraid he would never be able to get out of there. When she was done with the basic dress – _a dress,_ that was what he had come down to – she stole some of Oria's glitter and generously tossed that on him until he was sure he would cough glitter for the rest of his life. Never mind how long it would remain stuck to his skin.

She found an old wig of hers and put it on his head along with Oria's doll's plastic tiara, securing it with so much pins and hairspray, he was also certain he would be sentenced to walk around with purple glittering hair all his life. As for the make-up…

"I think you're having a little too much fun." he grumbled, spying the grin she was failing to hide.

"My apologies." she giggled, applying a large dose of lipstick on his lips. "There. You look dashing, Princess."

"You're having the time of your life, aren't you?" He rolled his eyes.

"To be honest, yes." The giggles turned into outright chuckles when she finally allowed him to see his reflection in the mirror.

He looked like a giant man wearing too much make-up, a wig and a huge pink dress – without mentioning the glitter.

"My virility just died." he deadpanned.

Effie's lips were pursed tight, probably in an effort not to laugh. "I think you look very pretty, dear. Very… Princess-like. Now, you need to do the voice. We can't have a fairy-princess talking like a caveman."

"That would be unique. No one could beat that." he snorted, staring at his disguise in horror. "Sweetheart, there's _no way_ I'm going out in public wearing that."

"Of course you are, our daughter is waiting for it." she replied, neatly putting her sewing supplies away. "Besides, the kids won't recognize you and if my suspicions are right Annie and the children won't come back until it's actually time for cake."

The glitter was absolutely blinding him.

"Hey!" Johanna's voice called from down the stairs. It wasn't long before it was followed by stomping and her appearance. "Oria wants to know when the fairy-princess… Oh, _fuck!_ " Seven's victor dissolved into cackles. She slid against the wall until she was sitting on the floor, holding her side.

He glanced at Effie. "I'm not going."

"Of course, you are." she shushed him, nudging him toward the door. "Oria is waiting. Never mind Johanna, you know how rude she is…" She dragged him all the way to the backdoor and then paused, fussing with the collar of the dress, the wig and the tiara. "Now, remember to use your princess voice."

"I _don't_ have a princess voice." he growled, eyeing her suspiciously. "No pictures."

She agreed to that one all too easily. He should have known better.

On retrospect, walking out in the sun was the easy part. Being assaulted by very excited little girls begging for a story wasn't that bad – he envied the boys who all declared wholeheartedly that fairy-princesses were stupid and that they would go play in the bouncy castle. Actually getting the children to sit and listen to a fairy tale he knew by heart thanks to countless bedtimes stories – and he spared a second to wonder how his life had come to this – wasn't difficult.

The very difficult part was when Effie stopped flashing her camera to greet their newly returned friends and the surprise they were bringing with them. The surprise was Plutarch, his arms full of presents wrapped in glossy paper and Beetee who had a small square pink box on his knees. Annie, who was pushing his wheelchair, stopped dead in her tracks when she caught sight of Haymitch. Johanna was so far gone she was leaning against the geese pen to stay upright and Katniss soon joined in her hilarity, followed by Annie. Peeta, Beetee and Plutarch had the tact to purse their lips real tight and not to show how amused they were.

Haymitch announced the cake, relieved to see his hour as an actor come to a close, and watched the children scatter away to the big table on which Peeta was busy displaying the beautiful cake shaped like a castle. Effie went almost crazy with the camera, forcing Oria to pose in front of it alone, then with Peeta, then with Katniss and Peeta… It would have gone on forever if Johanna hadn't declared that cake was made to be eaten and not admired.

He was about to sneak inside the house unseen when he felt someone tug on the hem of his tablecloth dress. He looked down at Finn who, from all of his nine years of age, seemed very puzzled.

"Uncle Haymitch, why are you wearing a dress?" the boy asked, eyes wide.

"Because your aunt Effie is a witch." he replied, forgetting the "princess-voice".

He seemed to accept that at face value because he shrugged and ran to the cake distribution, leaving Haymitch free to run inside the house. He had barely opened the tap to wash the make-up off his face when the backdoor opened again and he was attacked by a surprise tackle. It was experience alone that allowed him to catch the little girl who had flung herself at him.

"I'm very sorry but I have to leave now." he told the child, in his best imitation of Effie's voice.

"I know it's you, Daddy!" Oria giggled, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck and pressing a kiss to his cheek. " _Thank_ _you_!"

He thought about the tauntings he would have to bear from Plutarch and the rest of the victors and sighed deeply. "Anything for you, baby girl."

She wriggled until he let her down and grabbed his hand to try and drag him outside. "Cake, now!"

"I need to change first." he told her.

"But _cake_." she argued, as if it was enough of a reason. "And all the presents!"

She was so happy she clapped her hands together several times in a demonstration of sheer glee. He couldn't help a smirk. She was too cute. She was the cutest child ever and she was _his_.

"Run ahead." he said, nudging her to the door. "I will be right there."

She didn't need to be told twice.

Of course, "right there" was a bit of an overconfident statement. He had to rip the makeshift dress to get out of it – at least he wouldn't have to worry about eating on a pink tablecloth again – and despite the numerous application of water, the glitter wouldn't go away. It was everywhere, on his skin, in his hair, on his _face_ …

And that was without mentioning the state of their bedroom floor because it hadn't escaped the glitter attack.

"I saved you some cake." Effie told him, leaning against the bathroom doorframe. "Oria wants to open her presents now. Could you come down?"

"Yeah, yeah…" he grumbled, trying and failing again to get rid of the damned glitter. His skin was pink from all the scrubbing.

"You make a wonderful princess by the way." she teased. "I'm impressed. How is your virility faring?"

"I will show you tonight." he winked, giving up on the glitter, to face her.

An amused smile was tugging at her lips. "Good because Annie offered to take Oria at the inn for a sleepover with Finn… We could… have a date."

"I'm covered in glitter." he snorted. "You're not getting me out of the house."

She advanced on him like a predator who was playing with its prey, swaying her hips. He gave in the kiss willingly, thinking, in the back of his head, that now she would be covered in glitter too.

"I never said I wanted to get out of the house." she whispered against his lips. "Actually… I'm planning on making the most of having the house entirely to ourselves."

"I like how you think, sweetheart." he smirked.

The prospect was so enticing he barely even heard his friends' teasing about how pink suited him or what a wonderful fairy he made.

He only had eyes for Effie.


	16. The Pretty One

Prompt : I really like your stories with Oria and I was wondering if you could do one where she is tell Haymicth all about plans to merry peeta? thanks!

 _ **The Pretty One**_

Haymitch toured downstairs before heading to bed, checking that all the windows were closed. It smelled like rain and Effie could make fun of him all she wanted, he had lived in Twelve long enough to know when it was going to pour cats and dogs. Satisfied that he wouldn't have to get up in the middle of the night because a storm was raging inside his house, he finally climbed up the stairs, already daydreaming about his warm bed and the warm body waiting for him between the sheets.

He didn't bother switching the corridor lights on when he reached the first floor, he was used to wandering around the house in the dark. The darkness was what made it so easy to glimpse the moving ray of light behind the first door on his left.

Haymitch frowned. He figured that if it had been a burglar lurking in Oria's room, his daughter would have already started screaming at the top of her lungs and probably attacked the man in a valiant attempt at protecting her stuffed animals. She was overly protective of them. She had once refused to speak to Haymitch for four hours because he had stepped on a stuffed rabbit paw. Not to mention the fact that the geese would have honked, so that ruled the burglar theory out, which meant the light more than probably belonged to Orianna's flashlight.

With a sight, he pushed her door open and folded his arms over his chest with a stern expression that usually did little to his daughter. As it was, she glanced up, flashlight firmly kept in place between her teeth so her hands would be free to held a paper in place while she applied a generous dose of pink with her pencil, but didn't otherwise looked guilty at being found out drawing when she should have been fast asleep.

"What are you doing out of bed?" he asked, switching the lights on.

She blinked at the sudden flux of brightness and spat out the flashlight. "I'm drawing, Daddy."

"I can see that." He suppressed the smile that was threatening to tug at his mouth. "But it's time for bed, baby girl."

"But I have to finish." she argued, exchanging her pink pencil for a green one.

He rolled his eyes but walked to the bed and threw back the covers. "Bed, Oria. Don't make me go and get Mommy."

She thought that over and then dragged her feet to the bed and climbed in. He had just tucked her in when she battled her long eyelashes in the exact same way her mother did when she wanted something. "I need to go pee pee."

"Of course you do." he grumbled and let her up. She wasn't particularly discreet as she ran to the bathroom, it was like a small elephant stomping through the house.

"Haymitch?" Effie called from their bedroom.

"Got it!" he replied, leaning against the corridor wall while Oria finished her business. She certainly took her time washing her hands, making sure the water was warm enough but not too hot and that she had used enough soap… Haymitch knew when someone was trying to play for time. "Your hands are clean. Time for bed."

"I want water." Oria pouted. She was already hopping towards the stairs like a bunny when he caught her under the armpits. If he let her go down to the kitchen, he would never get her upstairs again. It would be 'let's say goodnight to the geese' and 'have you seen the light outside' or whatever ridiculous excuse she would come up with – and she was never short on those.

"You have a glass of water on your bedside table." he reminded her, carrying her back to her bedroom. She made herself heavy on purpose, her pout only deepening.

"It tastes funny." she grumbled.

"It's water. It doesn't taste funny." he objected. He tucked her back in bed, made sure Mr Grrr was in bed too because she wouldn't sleep if her stuffed bear wasn't there, kissed her forehead and told her to go to sleep. No such luck, however.

"Monsters check." she requested.

He made a show of opening the wardrobe doors, of looking under the bed and even behind the curtains, all the while knowing he was ridiculous and Effie must have done the same thing less than two hours ago. "All clear." he declared very seriously. "No monsters."

"Do you like my picture, Daddy?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's nice." he mumbled, sitting on the bed next to her. He would wait until he was sure she was asleep or he wouldn't be able to sleep himself, he would keep worrying she was roaming the house on her own and getting into mischief.

"You haven't looked!" she protested, clutching her bear against her chest in disapproval.

He would have loved to glare at her and tell her to stop being such a brat but he was powerless faced with those bright blue eyes of hers so he got up and went to check the picture she had been so busy drawing in the middle of the night. The picture looked like the other thousands plastered all around the fridge, the bookshelves and the fireplace mantle : blots of green, pink and blue that might or might not have been trees, the sky and a bird. Effie was in awe of her drawing skills, Haymitch was a bit more realistic about the lack of those. "It's beautiful. I will put it up on the fridge tomorrow."

"No, it's not for you!" she frowned, snatching the picture from his hands when he came back to sit on the bed. "You can't steal it."

"Okay, okay…" he grumbled, watching as she carefully laid it down next to her glass of water. "Who's it for, then? Mommy?" That was a first. She was usually happy to gift him with everything she produced.

"It's for Uncle Peeta." She stifled a yawn. "Do you think he will like it?"

"Sure." he shrugged. If the boy didn't like it he would pretend for the little girl's sake anyway. "What did he do to get a picture?"

Oria was quiet for a few minutes and he actually dared hope she was asleep but then she toyed with Mr Grrr's ear, turning it this way and that. Haymitch and Effie had a bet about how long it would take before that bear fell to pieces.

"Auntie said Uncle Peeta should have married someone who draws well." she says at last.

Katniss had probably been joking. "When did she said that?"

"When we were drawing on the little cakes with the pink and green stuff." Oria explained. The kids had babysat her that afternoon and Peeta had probably thought baking would be a good activity. "Auntie wasn't good, her cakes were all crooked and they weren't nice like Uncle Peeta's. He said mine were the beautifulest ever."

Effie would probably have corrected her grammar but it was too late an hour to care in his book. "And?"

"And I draw and I'm good so if I draw very well Uncle Peeta will marry me instead of Auntie." She sounded a bit annoyed, as if he should have understood her genius plan hours ago.

Haymitch's brain froze. "Why in Panem would you want to marry Peeta?"

"Cause he's pretty and he gives me cakes." She rolled her eyes as if it was obvious.

He opened and closed his mouth several times. There were so many problems with that statement he didn't even know where to start.

"You can't marry someone because they're pretty." he said at last.

"You married Mommy." Oria frowned.

"I didn't marry Mommy because she is pretty." Haymitch rubbed a hand against his forehead, sensing he would have a headache before long.

"You think Mommy isn't pretty?" the girl gasped in horror.

"Of course, I think Mommy is pretty." he grumbled. "Don't go and tell her I said she isn't pretty." That was all he needed, for Effie to hear that. He would be sleeping on the couch for days on end.

"Mommy's cake aren't good." Oria pointed out.

"Can't say they are." Haymitch snickered. Effie's cooking skills hadn't really improved and he doubted they ever would.

"Then, if you didn't marry her because she's pretty and she can cook why did you marry Mommy?" It was an innocent enough question but he'd rather Effie answered that one. He had never thought of what they would tell their daughter once she started asking questions about how they met or got married or… anything about the past really.

"You marry people because…" He looked around for inspiration and found the good of fairytales Effie read her every night – not only Effie, to be honest, he was so familiar with the stories he probably knew them by heart by now. "Because you're in love with them. But you marry when you're old. Very, _very_ old. Like around… forty. Forty is good. Until forty you can't look at boys, you hear me?"

"Boys are yucky." she agreed, wrinkling her pretty nose. "They always put yucky things in their mouth. Gilly ate a slug yesterday."

"Disgusting." Haymitch nodded. "See? No boys, no getting married."

"Uncle Peeta doesn't eat slugs." she yawned again. "And I love him, he gives me cakes. I will marry him."

"No, you won't." he frowned. "No getting married, I said. And what about Katniss?"

"Auntie can live with us." she offered very generously with a careless wave of her hand. "But I marry Uncle Peeta."

"And what about me?" He was aware he was whining but really, as Effie always said, he was sometimes acting more like a five years old than their five years old. "You want to leave me to live with Uncle Peeta?"

She opened a sleepy eye and let go of her bear to pat his hand slowly. "No, no… Silly Daddy." she giggled. "You will live with me."

He felt a bit better at that piece of news but, still, he had suddenly mixed feelings about Peeta. Stupid maybe, but…

"What about Mommy?" he insisted. "We can't leave her alone here. She will be sad."

"Mommy comes with us." Oria muttered, bringing Mr Grrr close to her once again. "Mr Grrr too." She breathed out slowly and he knew she was out. He smiled despite himself and the fact that he had half a mind to go knock on Peeta's door and tell him not to give cakes to his daughter ever again, and kissed her forehead before leaving the room. He let the door slightly ajar in case she got afraid during the night, then he got changed in the main bathroom instead of the one in his bedroom so he wouldn't wake Effie.

He shouldn't have bothered, she snuggled against him as soon as he sneaked into bed.

"What took so long?" she mumbled sleepily, hooking a leg around his. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in the smell of her flower shampoo.

"Your daughter has the wedding jitters." he snorted in her hair. "She's going to marry Peeta, apparently, but don't worry, we can all live together like a big family. Even Mr Grrr."

"If even Mr Grrr can come too, then all is well." He could hear the smile in her voice. She dropped a kiss to his shoulder. "You didn't go to the children's house to kill Peeta yet. I'm impressed."

"Too tired." he grumbled but that only made her laugh softly.

"You already planned ten ways to kill him without getting caught, didn't you?" she teased.

"I wouldn't kill the boy." He rolled his eyes. "Hurt him a little bit maybe… Make him ridiculous… I heard she finds boy eating slugs _yucky_ … Maybe Peeta likes slugs…" Maybe the boy wouldn't notice if he slipped some in his plate while Katniss wasn't looking…

"You won't feed slugs to Peeta." Effie warned him, nuzzling her face against his neck. "She will fall in love with someone else quickly enough. It's normal at her age."

"I don't like it." he growled but he still settled in for sleep, knowing there was nothing he could do about it right at that very second.

"Of course, you don't." Effie sounded too amused, really, it was vexing. "God help us when she's actually old enough to date."

"She won't date until she's forty." he replied. "We have an agreement."

She patted his chest. "If you say so."

"I'm saying so, sweetheart." he huffed. "What if she has inherited your taste in men? Some of your boyfriends were nutcases."

"And I married the biggest of them all." she joked. "It didn't work too bad for me in the end, did it?"

"If you're the same as your daughter, you married me because I'm pretty." He tightened his hold on her and pressed a goodnight kiss to her lips.

"I'm caught." she laughed before deepening the kiss a bit. "I married you because you're pretty."

"I _knew_ it was your master plan all along, Princess." he whispered against her lips. He kissed her again, just because he could.

"Sleep, now." she said after a few more kisses. "Some of us actually have to go to work in the morning."

"And some others will be waken up at dawn by an over enthusiastic kid." he reminded her. "How come you get to talk to adults all day and I have to stay in five-years-old land?"

"It's good for you to be with people your own age, Haymitch." she joked.

"Well, aren't you full of wits today…" He nibbled on her neck playfully.

"One of us has to and we already established you're the pretty one." She kissed him more forcefully and then burrowed against his side, her head resting on his shoulder. "Let me get my beauty sleep."

He snorted at that, thinking up and discarding at least ten replies before settling on holding her closer. He fell asleep with a smirk on his lips, like he did almost every night since Effie had come back into his life.


	17. Turning Twelve

Prompt : WRT Haymitch, Effie, and Oria - would you write a story about how it's (the anniversary of) Reaping Day after Oria's twelfth birthday, and the girl can't understand why her parents, and Aunt Katniss and Uncle Peeta, all are acting freaked out, when to Oria it's just a minor anniversary?

 _Not sure Reaping Day is a fixed day… More like a season in which they pick a day… Anyway, I chose to make this about her 12_ _th_ _birthday instead_

 _ **Turning Twelve**_

The tension was odd and Effie knew their daughter had picked up on it. She tried to look cheerful for Oria's sake as she loaded her plate with her traditional birthday breakfast, tried to tell herself she was being stupid. Of course, if she was being stupid, Haymitch was being stupid too. He was trying to put up a front too but he had been up all night, fighting, she knew, not to go out and find liquor.

The phone's ringing sounded loud in the uncharacteristically silent kitchen. Oria looked up but Haymitch kept munching on his eggs so Effie stood up and answered it. "Hello?"

" _Trinket."_ the usually grumpy voice replied. _"It's your girl's birthday."_

"Yes." she sighed and then, chiding herself, she put some cheer back into her voice. "How nice of you to remember! She will be happy you called."

" _Twelve, is she?"_ Johanna asked before she could offer to get Oria on the phone.

"Yes." she answered without even pretending to sound cheerful this time.

" _Haymitch's freaking out yet?"_ Seven's victor insisted but the cutting tone was there to mask her own worries rather than mock them. _"When Finn reached twelve, Annie and I freaked out bad."_

"It's only natural." she offered. "But nothing happened and nothing will. It's a birthday like any other."

" _Sure_." Johanna humored her. _"Now, get your girl on the phone, we didn't call to talk to you."_

She could hear Finn's voice in the background and she figured he and Annie were standing rather close to Johanna. Oria was already at her side before she could tell she had a call and she snatched the phone from her hand without a word of thanks or apology. She was getting difficult, trapped in that age between childhood and girlhood. She still loved her dolls but refused to play with them because she wasn't a baby anymore, she still acted like a tomboy but was more careful about the way she dressed, she loved going hunting with Katniss but she also devoured every fashion magazine she could put her hands on… And, naturally, she was starting to act as if her parents knew nothing about the real world, she felt misunderstood and resented every rule they tried to apply.

Effie had hoped that phase would have come later, when she was fourteen or fifteen but, obviously, Oria had a temper, just like her and Haymitch, and her teenage years promised to be difficult.

Effie sat back down at the kitchen table, watching their daughter stretch the phone cord to the maximum to escape to the hall so she could have some privacy.

"She will be worse than you. We spoiled her too much." Haymitch sighed, sullen.

They _had_ spoiled her too much… Orianna had been a miracle to both of them and they had watched too many children die to take her for granted. She had completely put their lives upside down and Effie knew in her heart she would never have been as happy as she was without her. She might never have found the courage to face Haymitch again without her. So yes, they had spoiled her rotten, they had tried to be fair and to raise her well but they had been too lenient at times.

"Let's hope she will meet a boy who will teach her humility then." she chuckled, reaching for his hand..

He squeezed her fingers and brought her hand to his lips for a soft kiss on her knuckles. "First you never learned humility, sweetheart. Second, no boy is ever coming near my baby girl."

Effie wisely held her tongue on that front.

"She's just as safe as she was yesterday." she said out loud, for both of their sake. "The Games are over. Nobody will come to take her away. She is safe. We are all safe."

He squeezed her hand again but didn't answer.

°O°O°O°

Haymitch was cleaning the geese pen. It wasn't his favorite activity and he was usually happy to not do it until it became truly necessary but he needed the distraction and the physical labor. It was that or wandering in town in search of a glass of liquor. He had been thirsty since the previous night and no matter how many times Effie had pleaded for him to get back to bed, nothing had done the trick.

Oria was twelve and being twelve meant she was eligible for Reaping.

It didn't matter that there were no Reapings anymore. It didn't matter that Oria wasn't in any danger. He couldn't stop himself from thinking it : she was old enough to be reaped and thrown in an arena where she would either be forced to kill people or be killed.

"Hi, Dad."

He startled so badly he knocked his head on the wooden plank which prompt his daughter to giggle.

"You're too much like Katniss." he grumbled. "I'm going to put a _fucking_ bell around your neck."

"That goes directly to the swear jar." Oria laughed. "Mom won't like it."

"Like you put money in that _damned_ jar every time you swear." he snorted.

"Ladies don't swear." she grinned, reciting one of Effie's favorite motto.

"You should hear your mom when she's in a real mood." he mocked. "'Had fun at Katniss and Peeta's?"

"Willow and Uncle Peeta baked me a cake." she explained. "But it's not my real one. My real one is for tonight's dinner. Uncle Peeta said I would love it."

The cake was decorated with hundreds of little sugar flowers. Haymitch had seen it and he had no doubt Oria would love it as promised.

"Had any interesting gift yet?" he asked, going back to scrubbing bird feces from the floor of the pen.

"Only if you count Willow's beads necklace…" Oria answered in a voice that let him know that the gift _shouldn't_ count. She showed him the colorful child friendly beads. She watched him work for a while, declining his suggestion that she grabbed a brush and helped him. She liked to feed the geese, not cleaning after them. "Why is everyone acting so weird?" she asked after ten minutes of silent watching.

"Weird how?" he tried to elude.

There was no eluding when Oria wanted to know something though.

"Finn said Aunt Jo and Aunt Annie were the same when he turned twelve." she continued. "He said it's because of the Games but the Games are over, Daddy, so why are you all acting like I'm going to die tomorrow?"

He tossed the brush aside and stood up, brushing the dust off his pants, contemplating how to answer that. Finally, he opted for the truth. "'Cause being twelve and a victor's kid usually meant a death sentence. There's nothing the Capitol liked more than a victor's child in the arena. If they were lucky, they waited until they were old enough to put up a good fight but in outer Districts, victors' kids tended to be reaped at twelve."

And _his_ kid in particular would have had no chance.

"But the Games have been over for fourteen years." she shrugged.

He gritted his teeth and avoided his daughter's eyes. "For some people, they will _never_ be over, baby girl."

"Well… Even if there were still Games and I was reaped, you know I could win so you shouldn't worry either way." she declared with such arrogance he wanted to shout some sense back into her.

"You think you could win?" he scoffed.

"Of course, I could win." she insisted, perching herself on the pen even though he had forbidden it for as long as he could remember. "I'm very good with a bow, maybe as good as Aunt Katniss. I can hunt and I can find my way in the woods. And I'm good with puzzles too. And I'm pretty and nice so sponsors would love me and send me tons of gifts. See? Nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, and can you slit someone's throat?" he spat, and regretted it just as quickly. "Sorry, baby girl. Sorry…" He looked down, unable to meet her eyes. "You should go see if your mom needs help."

She didn't move and when he dared glance up, she was watching him with a guarded gaze.

"Finn's mom won and she didn't kill anyone." she pointed out.

How to explain that Annie had won because of dumb luck and a lot of behind the scenes bargaining on Finnick's part? It wasn't a coincidence if that dam had broken when Annie was such an excellent swimmer.

"True." he granted even though it was a lie. "Go find your mom."

He didn't want to talk about the Games with his daughter, either his or her hypothetical ones. Oria would never see the inside of an arena and that was how he wanted things to be.

"Mom's a Capitol anyway." she said, jumping from the fence. "She was an _escort_. Nobody would have put _me_ in an arena."

He doubted that would have stopped Snow but he let his daughter her illusions. She felt safe, she never knew the fear of growing up dreading your twelfth birthday because you knew it was time to take Tesserae to feed your family. Oria had never been hungry once in her life.

He watched her leave, so carefree, and prayed she would always remain ignorant.


	18. Unexpected

Prompt : Please a fic about the time when oria meets her grandparents (effie's people)

 _ **Unexpected**_

"Don't wander too far!" Haymitch uselessly called after his daughter. She was already gone ahead, heading straight for the geese pen. He was slow to follow, his age was catching up with him, but his eyes never strayed away from the bouncing blond ponytail of the six years old.

When she froze, at the corner of the house, and glanced back in his direction, he hurried. Oria wasn't a shy child, by the time he had caught up she had already engaged the two strangers waiting in front of the backdoor.

"Hello! That's so pretty!" she said, making a beeline for the woman.

The very _Capitol_ woman, Haymitch couldn't help but think, out of breath, as he spied the rich clothes the man and the woman were wearing, the wigs and the stuck-up attitudes.

He snatched Oria away and held her against his chest protectively. It was instinctive, really. Capitols never mixed well with children in his mind.

"Daddy!" the girl giggled, wriggling in his arms. He tightened his hold.

"What do you want?" he spat, his grey eyes darting from the man to the woman, trying to evaluate the threat. Truthfully, they didn't look very dangerous. They were old, for one thing, even under the plastic Capitols still insisted on pumping under their skin in a feeble attempt at stopping time from taking its toll.

The man looked to his companion but the woman wasn't forthcoming with an explanation, she was staring at Oria, her mouth slightly gaping, with teary-eyes. _Blue eyes._ There was something familiar about her but he couldn't quite pinpoint it. He had never met either of them, he was certain of it.

"We apologize for trying the backdoor." the man said after clearing his throat. "We were told we could find Effie Trinket here?"

"My mommy's name is Effie!" Oria blurted out before Haymitch had time to think about it. The Capitol woman pressed a gloved hand to her lips with a small gasp. She took a step closer but Haymitch took two back, half shielding Oria with his shoulder, his heart hammering in his chest. His own behavior was ridiculous, clearly they weren't a danger to his daughter, but the problem ran deeper than what his logic was telling him. It was experience, a fight or flight feeling and with this precious load in his arms, the only good answer was to flee. The little girl didn't seem to realize something was wrong, she settled more comfortably against him, wrapping an arm around his neck so she could see the strangers and went on with her little speech. "But my mommy isn't a trinket… What's a trinket? Like a bauble? Mommy has lot of those…"

"I…" the man's sentence trailed off, clearly taken aback. He was staring at the girl too now and the urge to flee was quickly becoming more than Haymitch could take. "Trinket is a name." the stranger finished lamely.

"Oh." Oria frowned, muddling that over in her head for a second. Then she shrugged. "My mommy's name is Abernathy like me and Daddy."

Shock flashed on their faces but not surprise, Haymitch observed. No… Not surprise.

"Please…" the woman said again, her voice tight with emotion. She was looking at him now but she kept glancing at the child."Would you happen to know where Effie is?"

"Who are you?" he asked at last.

He knew the answer, though. It was her eyes. Same blue as Effie and Oria.

"Elindra Trinket." the woman answered, outstretching a shaking hand. "And this is my husband, Tadius."

He didn't take the hand and she let it fall after a few seconds with a displeased expression. Oria was frowning for entirely new reasons now. She was picking up on the tension, he knew.

"Does she know you're alive?" he asked.

He thought that was the real question, here. Because if she knew they were alive… Why had she never told him? When she had appeared on his doorstep in the middle of the night two years after the rebellion, soaked from the rain and heavily pregnant, he had come to understand he was her last resort. In six years, she had never mentioned any family.

"Why, I suppose so." her father replied coolly. "We would have liked to know _she_ was. She disappeared after the war. No note, no letter, _nothing_ and suddenly, she's on live TV in Twelve."

After the war, Effie had gone through a very difficult period. He didn't know much about those two years except that she had done things she wasn't proud of in an attempt to cope with the memories of her time in prison.

As for her being on TV… They had attended a remembrance ceremony two days earlier with Peeta – Katniss had stayed home with the kids – it wasn't surprising the cameras had focused on them rather than on the speaker.

Still, if Effie had never contacted her parents before there must be a reason.

"Tadius." Mrs Trinket snapped, glaring at her husband before turning to Haymitch once again. "We are just anxious to see our daughter. I am sure you understand…" The blue eyes settled on the child and Haymitch held Oria even tighter.

The girl didn't like it. "Let me go, silly Daddy, you're going to crush me!"

She wriggled so much he had no other choice than to put her down or risk dropping her. Oria was quick when she wanted to be and she rushed to the woman without wasting a second.

"So pretty…" she awed at the golden dress Mrs Trinket was wearing. It shimmered under the pale autumn's sun. Oria reached for it and then thought better of it, probably thinking back to all the times Effie chided her for doing so without permission. "Can I touch?"

" _May_ I touch." the woman corrected in a whisper, much in the same manner Effie always did. "And no, not until you wash your hands. We wouldn't want to dirty it, would we?" She studied Oria's outfit with a snobbish wince. Haymitch would have bet the thick purple pants and the white knitted sweater with the pink and blue giant flower on the front didn't meet her Capitol standards. "What's your name, darling?"

"Oria." the little girl answered with a pout at being denied.

"Oria…" Mrs Trinket repeated with a smile. "That's lovely. Lovely indeed. You look just like your mother when she was your age… Doesn't she, Tadius?"

"Yes, she does." Mr Trinket offered with a fond smile.

"You know Mommy?" Oria asked.

"Oh, your mother is my…" the woman started to explain.

Haymitch grabbed Oria under the armpits and lifted her up again before she could finish. He wasn't sure what Effie would want to do and there was no point introducing relatives that might not remain in his daughter's future.

"Effie will be back soon." he said. "You can wait for her here."

His priority was to get Oria away from them but that was without taking into account his daughter's stubborn nature. The child gasped and waved a finger in his face.

"It's _rude_ , Daddy!" Oria lectured him, imitating her mother's style. "When you have guests, you give them drinks and you tell them to do like they're at their own home." She shook her head, sending her long wavy ponytail swaying left and right. "You don't listen to Mommy."

"Oh, and _you_ do, baby girl?" he snorted. "Should we tell Mommy about the tree climbing then?"

Oria wrinkled her little nose. "Huh, huh… You pinky-swear promised you won't tell."

"Maybe I changed my mind." he shrugged. The movement made her jump and she clung to his neck, all giggles.

The two Capitols were still there and still very much staring, to Haymitch's utter annoyance. Although Oria had a point, he supposed. And, more than that, if he let them there, Effie would stumble upon them without warning but if he got them into the kitchen, he could talk to her before.

"Let's be clear." he growled. "If she doesn't want to see you, you're out."

The lack of manners clearly didn't please the woman who pursed her lips tight in disapproval but the man nodded once.

The reasons of Oria's insistence on proper behavior quickly became obvious when he opened the door and she rushed to the kitchen sink, dragging a chair on her way. He had never seen her watching her hands so quickly before. She lost no time in running to the woman again.

"Can I touch now?" she asked.

" _May_ I touch." Mrs Trinket corrected again. "And yes you may if I may sit down?"

The question was a bit sarcastic and probably a gibe at Haymitch's lack of cordiality. He didn't even bother with a reply, leaning against the kitchen counter and peering through the window when he wasn't watching Oria.

The little girl seemed happy to play hostess for now, showing them to chairs and _finally_ getting her hands on the shimmering golden dress.

"It itches." she declared, taking her fingers away with a disappointed face.

It brought a smirk on Haymitch's lips. It was notorious that Oria despised any _itching_ pieces of clothing and what she deemed itching sometimes puzzled both her mother and her father.

"You wanna drink?" she asked Mrs Trinket, clearly bored with the dress now. She looked at Haymitch pleadingly without waiting for an answer. "Hot cocoa?"

"Hot cocoa what?" he mumbled mechanically, glancing outside, hoping to spy Effie's approach.

"Hot cocoa _please_." the little girl sighed.

Haymitch frowned at her. "You're turning into a brat, baby girl. Be careful or you can say goodbye to this week bow lesson."

The answer was immediate and the puppy eyes enough to soften a heart of stone. "Sorry, Daddy."

"Bow lesson?" Mr Trinket coughed politely, while Haymitch fixed Oria a drink.

"Auntie Katniss is teaching me." Oria explained, climbing on the chair and sitting on her knees exactly like Effie told her to never do. "What's that on your head?"

"A wig." the man offered.

"Why is it blue?" the child insisted.

With his back turned to them, Haymitch couldn't help but smirk.

"Well because…" Mr Trinket stammered.

"Fashion, darling." Mrs Trinket cut in. "We will get you a pretty wig too. Wouldn't you like that?"

Haymitch didn't even have time to open his mouth.

"Ugh, no!" Oria retorted, swinging on the chair so hard the back legs kept lifting from the ground. "Must itch."

"If you fall, don't come crying." Haymitch warned her. He ignored the horrified look the Capitols gave him and placed a steaming mug in front of her before pushing on the back of her chair to make his point.

His rebuke fell on deaf ears.

"Why are you wearing a wig?" Oria asked, staring at the ridiculous thing curiously. "You don't have hair?"

Haymitch didn't even bother to try and hide his chuckles.

It took ten more minutes of relentless questioning on Oria's part and awkward answering on the Trinkets before he spied Effie walking up to the house. He glanced at their daughter but she was very busy drinking her cocoa and reducing the Capitol to embarrassed stutters. She didn't even blink when he stepped outside, careful to leave the door open.

Effie greeted him with a warm smile that faltered when she glimpsed his grim face.

"What's wrong?" she asked at once. "Where's Oria?"

"Inside. She's fine." he was quick to reassure her.

"Oh…" she breathed out in relief. "You scared me. Why do you look so sullen then? What happened?"

"Your parents are here, sweetheart." he told her.

He tried to keep the accusation out of his voice but she flinched nonetheless.

"I see." she commented flatly. She avoided his eyes, worrying her hands in front of her. "How are they?"

"Fine for people I thought six feet deep." he snorted.

"I never said they were dead." she said defensively.

"You never said they were alive either." he shrugged. "It's fine. I guess you had your reasons."

"Not really. I just…" She swallowed with visible difficulties. "We have our differences. The war… We didn't part on good terms."

"It's fine, Princess." he repeated quietly, squeezing her hand.

She forced a smile on her lips and pecked his mouth before walking the short way to the kitchen. He shadowed her, smiling himself when Oria launched herself at her with an excited "Mommy!". Effie hugged her close like she did every day but she was nervous, Haymitch could feel it.

"Mother." she whispered. "Father."

Mrs Trinket had bolted to her feet as soon as Effie had walked in and she lost no time in stepping around the table and embracing her daughter.

Sensing that Effie would be fine, he grabbed the bag of stale bread and nudged Oria outside. "Come on, baby girl. Time to feed the geese."

"Is Mommy crying?" she asked as soon as he had closed the kitchen door behind them.

"No." he lied. "She had something in her eye."

"Oh… Okay." Oria accepted his answer with a shrug and ran to the pen. Feeding the geese was an endless task because the girl _always_ wanted to make sure all the birds got their full and, of course, she needed at least ten minutes to recount her day in details to Greta. He didn't know how long a goose lived but he hoped for their sake that one would have a long healthy life.

It had been at least half an hour and he was contemplating the idea of taking Oria to Katniss and Peeta's when the kitchen door opened again.

He knew at first glance Effie had been crying but she was smiling too – a real smile – so it couldn't be that bad.

"Oria, come here." she called to the little girl before ushering her inside. "I want you to meet your grandparents."


	19. Sleeping arrangements

_This one apparently escaped my noticed when I transfered the stories so..._

* * *

Kmol15 prompt : I love reading about Oria and Haymitch. Maybe could you wright a prompt where in the middle of the night Effie and Haymitch get woken because Oria has a nightmare and Haymitch tries to comfort her.

 _ **Sleeping Arrangements**_

Haymitch's eyes shot open to the sound of heavy stomping, barely a second before something equally heavy jumped on his and Effie's bed. He allowed himself a second of relief at _not_ being violently awoken by a five years old leaping on him – he didn't know how his sleeping mind would have reacted to that and he wasn't interested in finding out, the knife was locked in a drawer but there were plenty of damage to be done with his hands – and then switched the lamp on to look at Oria who was very busy wriggling under the covers in the middle of the bed. A glance confirmed Effie was still sleeping soundlessly.

"What's wrong, baby girl?" he whispered.

She pressed her stuffed bear against her chest and peered at the dark corners of the bedroom with obvious dread. "There were big monsters, Daddy."

"You had a bad dream again?" he asked, cursing Johanna to hell and back in his head for telling horror stories to his kid during her last visit. Oh, Oria had enjoyed it well enough on the moment and had even asked for more… Johanna had complied either because she liked being the cool aunt to Oria and Finn or because she knew it would make Effie mad… However, as much as she had seemed to enjoyed it, Oria didn't like the stories anymore. Every night was a fight to get her into bed because she was afraid that ghosts or goblins or whatever nonsensical creature Johanna had invented would come and eat her. She had ended up in their bed more often than not during the last week.

Oria nodded, sinking lower in the bed until the covers reached her nose. Then she grabbed Effie's arm, placed it around her and burrowed against her mother who held her close without even waking up. "I sleep with Mommy."

"We talked about this, baby girl." He tried to sound patient and reasonable but it was a hard thing to be at… He glanced at the clock and groaned when he saw the flashing red 03:32. Nevertheless, Effie was convinced they needed to at least try to get her back into bed before she got used to sleeping with them. "Let's go back to your bed. I will sit with you until you're asleep and I will do a monster check."

"No, no." Oria shook her head. "I sleep with Mommy."

"Daddy sleeps with Mommy." Haymitch pointed out. Or rather, he mused, Daddy would love to _sleep_ _with_ Mommy but that had been difficult lately with a five years old invading their bedroom at odd times every night. "You sleep in your bedroom."

"That's not fair." she complained loudly with a sulk. "You get to have Mommy and I am _all_ alone!" Then her eyes lit up. "I know, I know! Now, I sleep with Mommy forever and you sleep in my bedroom." She was so happy about her sudden epiphany, she bounced her little feet on the bed, kicking Effie and making her jump upright.

She looked around the room and flopped back down on the bed with a groan of her own when she realized there was no other immediate emergency than plotting the murder of Johanna Mason.

"What are you both doing awake?" Effie muttered.

"Revisiting sleeping arrangements." Haymitch snorted. "How would you feel about sleeping with your daughter _forever_ while I sleep in another room?"

"Very good if that means I can actually _get_ some sleep." she replied with irritation. Her face softened when she looked at her daughter. "Did you have a bad dream again, sweetie?"

"Ugh Ugh." Oria nodded, cuddling against her. "And Daddy is _mean_. He wants me to go back to my bed. All alone!"

"Now, that's not…" he started only to be interrupted by Effie's glare.

"I want to sleep with you, Mommy." Oria insisted, clinging to her nightgown with entirely too much theatrics.

Effie gobbled it, hook, line and sinker.

"Of course, you can stay with Mommy." she agreed at once, tucking her in and even nudging Haymitch further so the little girl would have more space – because, obviously, the stuffed bear _had_ to be tucked in too. The smug look Oria shot Haymitch's way told him all he needed to know about his daughter's evil mind. "Turn off the lights, Haymitch."

"Monster check?" Oria asked suddenly and there was a real edge of fright in her voice this time which was why Haymitch got out of bed with a sight and opened and closed the wardrobe and the bathroom door without any enthusiasm.

" _You_ 're the little monster." he told his daughter, when he was laying in bed once more.

"Haymitch!" Effie gasped. "Really!"

But Oria only giggled, not at all offended. She grabbed his arm and tugged until he was embracing the stuffed bear, the girl and his wife. It wasn't very comfortable.

"Group hug!" Oria squealed in delight.

Group hug, indeed, he thought.

Now, how could he get back at Johanna for this…


	20. Toast The Odds

_Today concludes the hayffie week! It was a hell of a ride! I hope everyone enjoyed it =)_

 _I will also seize the occasion to remind that my OCs (be they Theo, Hayden, Iris, Lyssa, Elindra or Tadius) aren't up for grabbing and if I see another hayffie baby named Oria out there with a similar story, I might flip tables. I worked hard on those characters and I don't think it's very complicated to create your own characters with their own names. The names I chose for them are distinctive enough and hard to find enough. I spent hours on this and seeing characters with similar relationships and the same names popping around makes me want to not write at all anymore._ _Of course, it's totally alright to have people have sisters and parents and friends and frenemies, all the more so when they're canonically mentioned, but_ not _with the same names, background story and personality as someone else's OC._

 _And I say that for me but I know some of Aidah's OCs were "borrowed" too. We choose to think of it as a coincidence but I would rather warn that I am not always the nicest person when it comes to that and what I forgive once I won't forgive twice_

 _I also appreciate the support some have showed me but, please, don't ask who and where because it might be a coincidence and I don't want to start shit over that. I am just taking the opportunity to remind people that OCs aren't canonical characters you can just borrow and play with at your leizure._

 _Sorry for the rant but I sat on it all night and felt it needed to be said._

* * *

 **Day 7 : Fluff**

* * *

 _ **Toast The Odds**_

"I'm exhausted." Effie confessed, tickling Oria's tummy to make her laugh. She was sitting on the new plushy carpet, next to the fireplace, her six months daughter next to her in her baby carrier seat.

Haymitch glanced from the fire, turning the piece of bread he was busy roasting on the poker.

"'Thought you were enjoying yourself out there, sweetheart." he scoffed.

"I did." she hummed, waving a rattle in front of Oria. The baby had learned how to grab objects a few weeks ago and, surely enough, she tried to snatch the toy away from Effie. "It was a lovely day. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I did nothing except showing up." he mumbled.

She ducked her head so he wouldn't see her fond smile, knowing it would only make him even more grumpy. She abandoned the rattle to Oria and turned the brand new wedding ring on her finger. It was odd to think she wasn't _Effie Trinket_ anymore but _Effie Abernathy_.

They had kept it small. Only the children, Johanna, Annie, little Finn, and Beetee had known to show up at the Justice Building that morning and the gathering that had followed had been equally small. Peeta had baked them an amazing cake and it certainly hadn't been the most glamorous party she had thrown but it had been just what she wanted and needed. _Family_.

Katniss and Peeta – mostly Peeta – had offered to watch after Oria that night but both she and Haymitch had refused, still anxious about being separated from their daughter. She had left her with the children a few times but she hated being parted from her baby.

"Here." he said. "It's toasted."

He blew on the piece of bread a few times and then pointed the poker at her so she would take it and eat it. She simply lifted an eyebrow and tickled Oria's tummy once more.

"Daddy thinks Mommy is an idiot." she cooed at their daughter who made a hiccup sound in answer. "Yes, he does. Daddy doesn't think Mommy would ask Uncle Peeta how a toasting works…"

Haymitch rolled his eyes. " _Seriously_? I'm going to kill that kid."

"No, you won't." she replied. "Now, I _do_ believe it's time for your vows."

The ceremony at the Justice Building was purely an exchange of signatures and rings. It lacked emotions.

"I don't have vows." he grumbled. "I have bread. Take it or leave it."

"So romantic." she teased. "What do you think, sweetie?" Oria made her opinion known by drooling all over her chin. "Your daughter doesn't like those vows, Haymitch. Do better."

"Eat the _damn_ bread." he insisted. "That's the important part. It's symbolic and _shit_."

" _Language_." She clicked her tongue, picking up the rattle when Oria dropped it. "Tell me why you are marrying me."

"'Cause your kid has my name." he shrugged.

"Haymitch!" she hissed. "Tell me why you want to marry me."

"'Cause I hate you and I want to make my life miserable forever." he deadpanned. "What do you think? You know I…" He stopped, always getting stuck on those words. "You know."

"I do." she confirmed. "But as far as love declarations go, it's now or never. Do you best. Tell me I am the most beautiful woman you've ever seen."

"I'm marrying you because you're the humblest woman I've ever seen." he mocked but his face softened. "And the prettiest one."

"Good." she grinned, placing a hand on her daughter's tummy to get her attention. "See, Daddy, is getting better at this…"

"It doesn't mean anything to me, you know." he shrugged. "The rings and all that _shit_. We've got a kid, getting married is the right thing to do for her but… It's just a piece of paper." Effie turned her head away, instinctively trying to hide the sudden pain at those words but he went on, completely unaware. "I don't need it to know what you mean to me. Maybe Oria was your miracle, sweetheart, but you were mine."

She had to swallow back tears at that comment. She cleared her throat, staring at their daughter rather than at him. "See, sometimes Daddy says the sweetest things in the worst way possible."

"Eat your damn bread." he grumbled. "We already know I will suck at being your husband and I will suck at being her dad."

"I think you will be amazing at both and I won't hear otherwise." she argued. "You already are."

She popped the now cooler bread from the end of the poker and took a large bite. Oria tried to grab it away from her hand but she held it out of reach.

"Your turn now." he snorted, handing her the poker and another piece of bread. "Try not to burn the house."

"You think you are funny but you really are not." she chided him, switching places with him so she could be near the fire and he could keep an eye on Oria. Not surprisingly, he picked her up from the carrier – always eager to snuggle her close now that he had worked through his fear of carrying her – and she made delighted sounds as he rocked her the way she liked best.

"I'm hilarious, right, baby girl?" he chuckled.

Effie focused on not burning the bread, occasionally smiling at her brand new husband and their daughter playing together. She had a feeling that when she would be older, he and Oria would team up against her.

Her bread was much more darker than the one he had prepared for her but given her cooking abilities, it wasn't that odd. She blew on it like he had done for hers.

"I had a big speech prepared." she said.

"I bet." he snorted. "Well, let's hear it then. Maybe it will put Oria to sleep."

"Still not funny." she sighed. "You are not one for speeches so I suppose I should go straight to the point."

"Miracles _do_ happen, baby girl." he snorted at the baby, dabbing away the drool on her chin.

"I love you." she answered, not letting herself be distracted by his sarcasms. "I've loved you for years. I wouldn't do this with anyone else. This life… I wouldn't want to share it with anyone else."

"Never thought I could have this life." he shrugged. "But… It figures it would be with you. Anyone else… I would have freaked out and run away a long while ago."

The discussion was becoming a little too heavy for her tastes. She knew all this. There wasn't a lot of secrets left between them. They had known each other too long and were too familiar with each other's flaws for it to be otherwise.

"Now, we both know you would never be able to leave Oria behind so you wouldn't run far." she teased. "You are _wrapped_ around her little finger. You're whipped for that baby."

"That's 'cause she's going to be even prettier than her mommy." he snorted, snatching the bread from the end of the poker. He took a large bite, brushing the crumbs down and away from Oria's pretty pink dress. "Now we're married, sweetheart."

"For better and for worse." she grinned. "I think we already lived through the _worse_ part so hopefully now we only have the _better_ part to look forward to."

"Kiss the groom." he requested, a smirk on his lips.

She leaned closer and then switched target to pepper kisses on the baby's face. "I think I will kiss the bridesmaid first."

He chuckled and wrapped his free arm around her shoulders, bringing her in an odd group hug that would later turn out to a habit for the three of them.

"We are going to be so happy everyone else will be jealous." she declared. "I am determined."

"Good." he commented, pressing a kiss on her temple. "I'm ready for some happiness."


	21. Exercising

Prompt : Effie trying to get her figure back after she gave birth to Oria? And Haymitch not understanding the problem? That's my prompt. ;)

 _ **Exercising**_

Oria was making unhappy little noises and Haymitch kept rocking her distractedly. He was trying to locate Effie. You would think that would be an easy task because their house wasn't _that_ huge but so far, he had only come up with empty rooms. He was certain she had crashed somewhere and was taking a nap which was _very_ unfair because it was _his_ turn to nap.

Oria wasn't sleeping at night. She rarely slept _at all_. Or rather, she liked to go to sleep and start screaming like a banshee every time they had managed to fall asleep themselves. She had her mother's lungs.

"You think Mommy ran away, baby girl?" he muttered when he didn't find her in the kitchen. She wasn't upstairs, she wasn't downstairs… She wouldn't have left the house without telling him, would she? Sneaking out and leaving him to deal with the crying baby…

Well…

 _He_ might have done it once or twice.

But they were _exhausted_.

He wanted more than an hour and a half of uninterrupted sleep. He would beg on his knees for more than one hour and a half of uninterrupted sleep.

He grabbed some breast milk from the fridge – and, yeah, breast pumps looked like torture instruments and he was very happy not to have to do that himself – and prepared a bottle one handed. It was scary how good he had gotten at doing that despite the tremors. He had been scared of dropping Oria at first but now he was so tired he didn't have the strength to doubt himself.

She looked a little happier once she was sucking on the bottle but it didn't tell him where Effie was.

He would never have found her if he hadn't chanced a glance through the window over the sink overlooking the backyard.

"What the fuck…" he mumbled before looking guiltily at the innocent bundle in his arms. "Don't tell your mom I said that." Opening the back door with a baby in one arm and a bottle in his free hand was a bit of a hassle. "What in Panem are you doing?"

Effie stopped her stretching – at least he assumed she was stretching – to turn in his direction.

"Exercising, what else?" she huffed.

"What for?" he asked, puzzled. They were going on two hours of sleep each. Why was she exhausting herself when she should have been resting for the next night of being kept awake by Oria.

"I need to get my figure back." she sighed, patting her stomach with a pout.

"Can't it wait?" he scoffed. "When she sleeps through the night…"

"When she sleeps through the night, she will be teething and then talking and then she will be sick or tired or grumpy… We will never again have a minute of peace and it's never too soon to get back on the saddle." she argued. "You were supposed to say that I don't need exercising because I am still beautiful even if I still look like a whale, by the way. I would have known it was a lie but I would have appreciate the sentiment."

He rolled his eyes. "Sweetheart, if I didn't think you were beautiful I wouldn't have been trying to get into your pants for a week." He lifted his eyebrows pointedly. "Too tired to have sex but not too tired to exercise?"

"Not in front of the baby, Haymitch, really!" she chided him, walking closer to relieve him of their daughter. "Were you hungry, honey?" She adjusted the bottle with a soft smile and looked up at him. "You should have come and fetched me instead of preparing a bottle."

"Didn't know where you were." he shrugged. "Come back inside, it's cold. Oria isn't dressed for this weather."

She hummed and followed him in the kitchen, a fond smile on her lips. It was maybe a little mocking because it wasn't _that_ cold and she had accused him more than once of being a mother hen but, in his book, it was better safe than sorry.

She fed the baby, walking all around the kitchen because that was the quickest way to settle Oria, cooing nonsense all the while. She hardly looked like the woman he had known before the war. She was wearing shorts and a loose tee-shirt and her hair was pinned high on her head. She wouldn't have been caught dead in workout clothes before.

Haymitch didn't mind one way or the other. And so what if she still was a little chubby – okay, it was more than a little chubby, she was far from her model figure, but he wasn't going to voice that out loud because he didn't fancy getting beheaded today – what did he care? She was here, she was alive, she was healthy and their daughter fitted neatly in her arms. _Their_ daughter. He was still having troubles believing this was really his life and not a weird dream.

He didn't care if she never lost the weight she had gained during her pregnancy.

He didn't care at all as long as she stayed.


	22. What Nobody Tells New Parents

Prompt: Oria caught Effie and Haymitch in bed if you know what I mean ;)

 _This chapter contains smut. I am not updating the rating for now because it's the only one but beware that there is semi-graphic stuff happening as suggested by the prompt ;)_

 ** _What Nobody Tells New Parents_**

Effie bit on her bottom lip but it wasn't enough to completely block the moan. With a smirk, he pressed his lips on her throat, near her pulse point and slowly brought his hips down again before moving up. It was taking all he had to keep this slow but it was worth it to see his wife wriggle and gradually getting more and more lost to her lust with every passing minute.

"Faster." she begged, clawing at his back, almost crying out from a mix of pleasure and frustration.

"Nope." he denied, fighting the urge to just grab her and slam into her.

"I hate you." she growled, throwing her head back and bundling the sheets in her fists. "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you…"

Her mumbled curses only made him chuckle and he bowed his head to kiss her chest. "Liar."

"I swear I…" she hissed. "I…"

But she was too incoherent to finish that thought.

And it was a good thing he hadn't given in to his own desires and had kept a level head because his brain registered the pounding of little feet before the bedroom door was pushed open and it was enough time for him to roll off Effie and pull the covers up to his chin. That left Effie rather exposed and completely stunned but it was better than what her daughter could have walked in otherwise.

Effie was quick to recover though. The second she realized their daughter was in the room, she grabbed at the blankets and covered herself. The eight years old was staring.

"Why are you naked?" she asked, always so blunt.

"I was hot." Effie lied without batting an eyelash. "What are you doing up, sweetie?"

"I heard noises." Oria complained.

"Noises?" Effie repeated, clutching the sheets to her breasts with one hand and attempting to flatten her tousled hair with the other. "I didn't hear any noises. Did you hear noises, Haymitch?"

Haymitch was torn between laughing and being horrified by the fact they had almost traumatized their daughter with their lovemaking. Katniss had walked in on them once. She hadn't talked to them for weeks and she still claimed to be haunted by the memory to this day. Being busted by one of their kids was enough in his opinion.

"Plenty." he smirked, unable to stop himself. That got him a whack on his arm for his trouble.

Oria watched them with an unusual caution, her eyes darting from her father to her mother.

"Can Daddy check the house?" the girl insisted with a frown.

Haymitch groaned because checking the house would take at least half an hour – Oria was nothing but thorough when the presence of potential monsters or burglars was suspected and he blamed Jo and the horror stories she kept telling the kids for that – and he had other plans. Like finishing what he had started with Effie.

"Oh, your father will be _delighted_ to check the house with you, sweetie." Effie replied with entirely too much amusement.

"Really?" he whined.

Effie wasn't so easily swayed. "Our eight year old daughter wants you to check the house with her. You _are_ checking the house. Maybe next time that will teach you to do things a little _faster_ when I tell you to."

Her lips were pursed, her eyes narrowed down to slits and her head tilted. He couldn't help but kiss that pout away.

" _Ew_." Oria declared pointedly, in that phase where every demonstration of affection between her parents was judged absolutely revolting. "Come on, Daddy."

Her tone was petulant and he almost chided her for it because she was quickly turning like a spoiled brat but he was distracted by a more urgent problem. "Yeah, go wait in the corridor, I'm coming."

That was an unusual request and Oria frowned. "Why?"

He rolled his eyes, having learned long ago to curse that particular word in their daughter's mouth.

He could have invented an excuse but, really, he was frustrated, tired and his arousal had still not completely gone away which meant he was grumpy.

"'Cause I'm naked." he replied. "And you don't want to see."

"Haymitch!" Effie snapped but she was promptly ignored.

Oria's eyes widened and she placed her hands on her eyes as if she could see anything through the blankets. " _Ew_. Why are you and Mommy naked?"

"'Cause we were hot. She told you." he grumbled. "Go wait in the corridor."

He waited to be sure she was gone before pushing the blankets away. He was quick in pulling on sweatpants, tugging them low enough on his hips that they would look loose and conceal everything.

"Now _I_ hate you." he growled in Effie's direction because she looked much more amused than she ought to be. She reached for her nightgown that was on the floor next to the bed but he snatched it away from her grasp and tossed it at the other end of the room. "Don't you dare. We're finishing this when I'm back."

She grinned but didn't argue like he had feared she would. "Don't be long then."

He had never been as quick in checking the house for imaginary monsters. It wasn't maybe too fair on his daughter who, he knew, was genuinely worried but he made a fast job of pointing out to her that the doors were locked and the windows closed. He ended up by humoring her and checking the wardrobe in her room.

"See?" he said. "No monsters. I told you Aunt Jo was making up stories." He held out the blankets until she was back in her bed, tucked her in, dropped a kiss on her forehead and would have hurried back to his own room if she hadn't grabbed his wrist.

"Wait until I'm asleep?" she pleaded.

With a sigh, he sat down on the side of her bed. "Sure, baby girl."

"I'm not a baby anymore." Oria grumbled.

"You will always be a baby to me." he snorted.

He petted her hair until her eyelids eventually dropped and then quietly made his way out of her room and back to his. A similar picture waited for him in his bed. Effie was sound asleep, her blond hair spread on the pillow under her head.

"Typical." he muttered under his breath, settling down on his side of the bed.

That was something they never told you when you became a parent, he mused : having kids killed your sex life.


	23. Condom Conundrum

Prompt : drama averted for now " this one shot was AWESOME! Haymitch who don't want his daughter to kiss boy is adorable . But the "drama averted FOR NOW" gave me an idea… You could do a one shot about Hayffie who caught theyre daughter having sex with her boyfriend and Haymitch is freaking out ! Or they can find condom in her bedroom

 ** _Condom Conundrum_**

" _EFFIE_!"

Effie startled badly and almost spilled her coffee.

"I'm in the kitchen!" she called out before clicking her tongue at the lapse in manners. She insisted on no shouting in the house but, really, their house was a circus most days.

It didn't take long for Haymitch to appear, clutching a little square package in his hand and waving it around.

Effie lifted a pointed eyebrow. "Shouting my name isn't conducive to convincing me of having sex with you." She frowned. "And why the condom? We haven't used condoms in years."

" _That_ …" he spat, tossing the condom on the kitchen table. "… was in your daughter's bag."

She took a sip of her coffee, sensing that conversation would leave her with a headache. "Oh."

" _Oh_?" he snapped. "I'm telling you Oria has condoms in her bag and you say _oh_?"

"Why were you looking in her bag?" she asked. Oria wouldn't be happy with that. It was lucky she had run out to spend time with her friends.

"I didn't. She left in on the couch. I moved it, _this_ fell." he explained with a disgusted face. "Why aren't you freaking out with me?"

She took another sip of coffee, playing for time. There was no dragging this forever though, not with Haymitch glaring at the contraceptive like it had personally insulted him.

"I gave it to her." she admitted. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth – probably to do more shouting – but she held up a hand. "She's not sexually active yet but she just turned sixteen and I won't take any chance." He kept on opening and closing his mouth without making a sound and for a second she was worried he was having a stroke. "Say something, Haymitch, you're scaring me."

"Are you _crazy_?" he shouted. "She's a _baby_!"

Effie sighed. They were having the same discussion regularly.

"She is not a baby anymore and I want her to be able to come to me, _us_ , with this." she replied. "I gave her the condom as a preventive measure. She's not even dating anyone at the moment."

"That you know of!" he retorted. "She wouldn't tell you! She doesn't tell us _anything_ anymore! You forgot about the stunt she pulled last month?"

She winced not about to forget the Peacekeepers bringing their daughter home at two a.m. when they had thought her safely asleep in her bed. And that was only the latest stunt. There had been others.

"She would tell me." she insisted with confidence. Oria had come to her every time she had had questions. She was acting out a lot, that was true, but those were nothing but childish stunts. Sex was another matter entirely. "And she wouldn't do it with a boy she didn't love. And at present there is none. I would know if my daughter was in love, thank you very much." She put her coffee down, snatched the condom from the table and pressed a kiss against Haymitch's lips on her way out of the kitchen. "Don't torture yourself, Haymitch. She's not doing anything."

He still gave her the cold shoulder for a week.


	24. First Day Of School

Prompt: Hayffie before Oria's first school dance or day of school?

 _I know it's Saturday but I was in the mood for a prompt_

 ** _First Day Of School_**

"Do you have your bag, sweetie?" Effie asked, whirling around the kitchen like a mad woman. "And your lunchbox? Did we pack your pencils? Won't you be cold with this dress? Maybe we should add a sweater just in case. The yellow one with the cute little blue bows on the pockets. Oh, and your hair! Are you absolutely sure you want braids? First impression is everything, you know. And..."

Haymitch and the five years old exchanged a glance. The little girl outstretched her arms and he lifted her up. Effie was so busy acting mad she didn't even notice nobody was listening to what she was saying.

"Is Mommy alright?" Oria frowned.

"Peachy." he snorted. "Crazy as usual."

"I heard that, Haymitch." Effie snapped. Her eyes fell on the clock and widened. "Oh my! We are going to be late!"

"The school is a fifteen minutes walk away, we have forty-five minutes to spare." he pointed out, rolling his eyes at her antics.

"But Oria has to be a little early." she argued. "That's what polite people _do_. Go put your shoes on, sweetie."

Admittedly, it took another ten minutes before Effie was satisfied that their daughter wouldn't die of cold or hunger and, above all, that she was _presentable_.

It was painful to see that Effie's nerves were frayed but Oria either didn't notice or didn't care, too excited by the perspective of her first day of school and the promise of Peeta's cupcakes waiting for her when she would come back. She kept a steady chatter all the way there, holding tight to both of their hands and absolutely ignoring her mother's attempts at last minute advices.

The front of the school was busy with parents dropping their kids off and stopping long enough to talk, children playing around and teachers greeting their new pupils. Naturally, Effie wasn't satisfied until they had introduced themselves and their daughter to almost everyone they met even though there was not a soul in that place who didn't know who they were. They had tried to explain to Oria she might get some not very nice comments but she hadn't understood why that would be and, to be honest, they hadn't tried their hardest to make her understand. They were happy being her parents and only her parents, the escort and the mentor were something they had tried to leave in the past as much as possible ever since her birth.

The teacher, at least, seemed kind. She was a young woman from District Two with a nice smile and glossy red hair and Oria was immediately taken with her. They got to visit the classroom too and their daughter was even more delighted by the toys and the friends she would make than by the teacher.

Nothing pacified Effie though.

She crouched in front of their daughter and clung to her tiny hands. "If you want to come home, just tell your teacher and she will call us. We will stay really close, there is no reason to be scared. And the whole day will pass in a flash."

Oria didn't look scared but she was quickly growing alarmed at the unusual display of emotions coming from her mother. Effie's blue eyes were bright with tears she was doing her best not to shed and the five years old was looking at her father with confusion and worry.

"Okay, sweetheart." he sighed, taking his hands out of his pockets to place them on his wife's shoulder. "Give Oria a hug and then we're going."

Effie looked up at him, her lips pursed tight – to prevent them from wobbling, he presumed.

"But we don't have to just yet." she argued. "We still have ten minutes before the bell rings and we can't really well _abandon_ her..."

"We're not abandoning her, we're leaving her at school." he cut her off. "And you're making her nervous."

"I want to go play!" Oria added with a pout. "But I don't want you to be sad, Mommy. I can stay with you."

"I..." Effie hesitated. He gave her a stern look and lifted his eyebrows. Several other kids were in tears, clinging to their parents' legs and he would rather avoid that if he could. Oria wasn't shy and she was as outgoing as it got. School, he hoped, would be alright. Effie sighed. "I am not sad, sweetie. You should go play. Give me a kiss."

Oria obliged by hugging her so tight Haymitch thought her head would pop. He was subjected to the same treatment and then Oria was gone, jumping on a little girl with dark hair who looked positively spooked but happy not to be sitting alone anymore.

"She's going to make friends in no time." Haymitch commented, dragging Effie away from the classroom. She kept it together until they were five feet away from the school and then she burst into tears. It was such an uncharacteristic thing to do for Effie, to cry – never mind _in public_ – that he stood there shocked still. "Would you stop?" he snapped at last. "You're acting like we're sending her to war! You're making _me_ anxious."

"How can you be so calm when our baby is gone!" she retorted, pulling a handkerchief from her purse and dabbing at her eyes.

"She's not gone. She's at school." he growled through clenched teeth. "Be rational, Princess."

He wasn't exactly handling the separation well either. They had always been wary of letting Oria out of their sight ever since she was a baby. It had taken months before either of them were ready to let one of the kids babysit for them and to this day Haymitch was still nervous when he knew Oria wasn't under his or Effie's direct care.

But Oria was a lively well adjusted little girl who shouldn't have to suffer because of her parents' post-traumatic stress. School was a part of growing up – a fun part, a part he had greatly enjoyed – and she was such a curious child he knew she would be having a blast there. She would be happy and that was all that mattered in Haymitch's book. It was safe. He had to remind himself of that since that morning but it _was_ and Effie's craziness was starting to become a little hard to bear.

"I don't like it." she declared petulantly. "We should have had her homeschooled. You could have done it."

"Yeah, sure." he scoffed. "Remember I dropped out at sixteen?"

That was something he regretted. Not that there were too many opportunities to further your education in Twelve past eighteen at the time but school had been something he liked, something he was good at. There was no going back to school after his Games, there would have been no point to it and he would never have been able to walk the same hallways and talk to the same people as if nothing had happened at all. It would have been too much to bear.

"You more than make up for it by yourself." she argued. "For all your lack of manners, you are more well-read than most Capitol men who went to university."

Books had been a pleasure he hadn't denied himself during the long years between the Second Quarter Quell and the Third. Knowledge was a weapon and Haymitch had always preferred to be armed. True as it might have been, though, homeschooling Oria wasn't an option.

"Everything will be fine, sweetheart." he promised. "She will have fun, she will learn things... Nothing will happen."

"You can't know that." she scowled as they came in view of the Victors' Village's gates. "What if she falls and she gets hurt?"

"Then they will call and we will go get her." he shrugged. "She falls _all the time_ , Effie, you know that doesn't stop her for long."

Oria was a tomboy to her mother's despair. She climbed trees, she ran in the mud and she was adamant about becoming better than Katniss with a bow. It didn't stop her from having the occasional tea party with her dolls and stuffed animals but that was the exception and not the rule. She would rather be out in the yard playing with the geese than play quietly inside.

"I don't like it." Effie repeated, her voice breaking with real apprehension. She sniffed and turned her head away to hide the tears still rolling down her cheeks but he saw and heard all the same. "I know you think I'm being melodramatic but..."

"You're _always_ being melodramatic." he chuckled.

"I keep thinking someone will snatch her while we're not looking and hurt her because of who we are." she confessed. "I keep thinking about all the children who died on our watch and..."

"Effie, stop." he ordered, grabbing her arm so she would face him. He cupped her cheeks, brushing the tears away with his thumbs, locking eyes with her. "Nobody will ever hurt our kid, you hear me? I promise you. I will _gut_ anyone who tries to touch a hair on her head. _I promise you_. This one's safe. I'll make sure she's safe for the rest of her life. Trust me."

He believed in those words with all he had. He had never made false promises, had never let himself hope too much in the past. He wasn't known for his optimism but Oria... Oria would never be the next Katniss or Peeta. Just like he wouldn't let anyone hurt the boy or the girl, he would protect Oria to his last breath. There was nothing he wouldn't do. Nobody would touch his family again.

"I trust you." she whispered. "I do."

"Good." he declared, dropping a kiss on her forehead. "Besides, she knows what to do if anyone tries to grab her."

"Scream her lungs out. Yes, I taught her that." she smiled, linking her arm with his.

They walked at a slower pace, almost enjoying the stroll back to their house.

"Yeah, and Jo taught her how to knee someone in the balls." he snickered. "Didn't want to tell you 'cause I knew you would make a fuss."

She didn't actually make a fuss, she looked pleased. "Good thinking. I told her to aim for the eyes with her nails."

He lifted his eyebrows in surprise before bursting out laughing, something that rarely happened but always left his side aching when it did. "Good moment to mention I told her to go for the throat? God, sweetheart, we're going to make a psychopath out of that kid."

"She's clever. She will use those skills sensibly." she objected and then winced. "I hope."

He shook his head, feeling a wave of love and tenderness for her crazy self. That woman had always been completely nuts but it was only increasing with each passing year. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

It turned out Oria didn't face a kidnapping at school. She had a blast, just like Haymitch knew she would, and talked their ears off all the way back and all evening, detailing her day, the other kids, who she liked and didn't like – she wasn't shy about telling people she didn't like them either – and the games she had played.

She almost fell asleep at the dinner table, exhausted as she was by her day.

"See?" Haymitch said later, as they were going to bed. "Told you it would go well, sweetheart."

She answered that with a huff and a peck.


	25. Bad Sides To A Calm And Boring Life

Prompt! though I'm not sure you wrote this - baby Oria starts to say some words, but thanks to her dad, not all the words she says are 'proper' (I hope you know what I want to say) So the reaction of Hayffie when they hear what Oria says!

 ** _Bad Sides To A Calm And Boring Life_**

Effie hummed as she knitted, now and then glancing at the two years old in the playpen set between the coffee table and the TV set. Oria was playing with her toys, keeping a running commentary of what was going on, mixing real words and gibberish. Her vocabulary was expending every day and Effie felt proud as a peacock with each new word she learned.

The backdoor banged shut in a creaking sound and Effie clicked her tongue in annoyance. She had asked Haymitch _so many times_ to oil it – never mind _not_ banging it. She heard him grumbling for a while in the kitchen and in the hall but when he wandered to the living-room he was still bundled in his scarf – a scarf she had knitted _herself_.

"It's _bloody_ cold out there." he spat, going to stand next to the fireplace. He added a log and then rubbed his hands over the flames for a few seconds. "We need to start stocking canned goods, sweetheart. Winter's going to be harsh. Wouldn't be surprised if we get snowed in at some point."

"Watch your language, Haymitch." she chided him distractedly. "We are low on groceries anyway. I will stop at the shop tomorrow after work. Or do you want to go?"

Sometimes, she wondered how and when they had gotten so _domestic_. A baby would do that, she figured, suddenly all conversations revolved around nappies, food and naps. Other people might have resented the boredom of it or lament the lack of excitement in their life, Effie rejoiced in the routine and the simplicity of it. It brought her a stability she had been desperately lacking after the war. And she and Haymitch had had their share of excitement in their life, they could do with boring days.

"I'll go to the market in the morning." he suggested. "You can hit the shop after work."

She nodded her assent.

For a few minutes, Oria's babble, the quiet _pop_ noises of logs in the fireplace and her needles clicking together were the only sounds that could be heard in the house. She liked this quiet soundtrack to her everyday life, far from the thundering music that had marked her party girl years.

Eventually, once he was warmer, Haymitch wandered from the fireplace to the playpen.

"What are you doing, baby girl?" he asked, grabbing Oria under the armpits and lifting her up.

The little girl giggled and Effie watched with a small smile as he made her twirl around.

"More, Dada!" Oria demanded, laughing and waving her stuffed bear around. "More!"

 _More_ was a word their daughter had mastered early enough.

Haymitch humored her for a minute and then propped her on his hip, nuzzling her cheek with his nose.

"Itchy!" the girl complained. The stuffed bear escaped her grip and before Haymitch or Effie could make a move to pick it up, she furrowed her brow. " _Shit_."

You could have heard a pin being dropped.

Haymitch cleared his throat and chanced a glance at Effie before snatching the bear from the floor and handing it back to the child. "Don't know where she picked that up…"

" _Shit_." Oria repeated proudly. " _Shit_ , Dada!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Haymitch muttered, having the good sense to at least blush a little. "You might want to try another word before your mom has an aneurism."

Effie set her knitting aside and looked at him, all poise and calm.

"I am going to kill you." she stated.

"Hey, maybe it wasn't me!" Haymitch was quick to defend himself. "Maybe it was Katniss."

" _Shit_. Geese. _Shit_. Geese." Oria started chanting, giggling between two words. "Look, Mama, look! _Shit_. Geese. _Shit_."

Effie pursed her lips, pushed herself off the couch and stole the child from his arms.

"That is a very _bad_ word, Orianna, and I won't tolerate cursing under this roof." she declared. "You must _not_ say it again."

"Dada don't like geese _shit_." the child insisted.

" _Doesn't,_ sweetie." Effie corrected gently. "And _shit_ is a very, _very_ ugly word. Don't listen to your father." Oria pouted. "How about a game?" she suggested desperately. "I will give you chocolate if you behave like a good girl and don't utter awful words…"

"How do you want her to understand you?" Haymitch scoffed. "I can't barely understand myself. You're so _posh_ , Princess."

"And clearly you are not or we wouldn't be in this mess." she huffed.

"I think you meant _shit_." he snorted.

" _Shit! Shit!_ " Oria repeated with entirely too much glee.

Effie drew out a long and painful sigh.

So much for a calm and boring life.


	26. Caught

Prompt: i saw your oria faceclaim in a picture where she was like 18 years old. This got me thinking…what if she played a prank on aymitch and effie saying she eloped with a current boyfriend? This would be crack, if you're feeling cracky! X3

 _It's not really what the prompt requested but… close enough. And she's 16 because of reasons. ;)_

 ** _Caught_**

Peace and quiet in the Abernathy household was a hard thing to come by nowadays which was why Effie was savoring her mug of tea and her fashion magazine in the _blissful_ silence.

A silence that was abruptly shattered when the backdoor was slammed shut and _screaming_ invaded the house. She didn't even have time to stand up and investigate – and, truth be told, she wasn't sure she would have; teenage rebellion being what it was – because Haymitch dragged Oria in the living-room by her arm and tossed her in the armchair without enough care in Effie's opinion.

"You are going to hurt her!" Effie protested. "What in Panem…"

"He _did_ hurt me." Oria pouted, rubbing her arm.

"Oh, _don't_!" Haymitch snarled, raising a warning finger. "You don't get to turn this around by crying into your mommy's skirt. You're not turning her against me. That's not happening. _You_ are in _fucking_ trouble."

Effie watched her daughter's face becoming sullen as she stopped rubbing her arm – which had, _probably_ , been all for show in an attempt at drawing _her_ to her side of the argument – and cut in before it could all escalate into a screaming match once again. "May I ask what this is about?"

Her sixteen years old daughter glared at the both of them and folded her arms across her chest, her cheeks slightly flushed. It clashed with her dyed cotton-candy pink hair. "Dad is being unreasonable."

She said it in a calm, almost detached voice that was just as fake as her pretending to be hurt two minutes earlier had been.

"Unreasonable." Haymitch sneered. "You want to see _unreasonable_? 'Cause, it's been some time since I killed someone, baby girl, but that boy can be next…"

There was a loud silence. Oria was staring at Haymitch with a defiance that hardly hid her apprehension and Haymitch was panting, the vein on his temple beating so hard Effie was afraid it would burst. She cleared her throat and reached out to touch his wrist. He _flinched_ and glared at her, looking a little lost, as if the words that had just come out of his mouth had shocked him. And that was how she knew he actually _meant_ them.

"Sit down, Haymitch." she ordered. He dropped on the couch next to her without a fight, his breath still short. "Do you feel alright?" She was starting to get worried.

He pulled at his collar, ignoring her growing concern. "You know how _your_ _daughter_ was supposed to be studying at her friend Lanie's?"

She was always _her_ daughter when it was about boys. "She wasn't. She was with Kal. I surmised that much." She shot Oria a look. "If you are going to lie to us to meet your boyfriend in secret, could you at least do it where your father isn't susceptible to walk in on you? You _know_ he doesn't like seeing you kissing boys."

" _Kissing_." Haymitch spat. "She wasn't _kissing_ him."

Oria's face was now crimson and she stubbornly kept her eyes cast down.

"Ah." Effie winced. "I see."

" _You_ _see_?" he chuckled, almost hysterical. "You see _nothing_! _I_ saw! I saw…"

"Yes, dear, I can imagine what you saw." she tempered, studying her daughter. "I thought we had an agreement, Orianna. I thought you would come to me if you thought you were ready to…"

"We weren't!" her daughter muttered defensively. "Like I said. He's _overreacting_."

"Overreacting." Haymitch repeated, still slightly out of breath. "I went to the shed to get tools to strengthen the pen. And what did I find? _What_?" He was snarling at Effie like she was responsible and she frowned a little at how unfair _that_ was. "You daughter with her shirt off and that boy's paw in her bra." He stood up and started pacing, tugging more on the collar of his shirt.

"What did you do to Kal?" Effie asked, although she was a little afraid to know. She was half certain they would need to bury a corpse in their backyard – or maybe the geese would get rid of it for them…

"Nothing. He's fast." he grumbled. "Scurried off like a spooked rabbit. Good thing too. If he's smart he will keep running to the next District and he won't be back."

"He left you alone?" she gasped, turning to her daughter. "How ungentlemanly!"

"Can we go back to the point when you shout at her for letting a boy in her underwear?" Haymitch scorned.

"It wasn't my underwear, it was my bra." Oria retorted. "And it wasn't even _in_ my bra. I'm telling you you're being unreasonable. Calm down already!"

"You _don't_ tell me to calm down." he hissed. "Watch your tone." He raised his arms and let them fall. " _What_ did I do wrong with you? I didn't raise a Capitol slut!"

"Why, _thank you!_ " Effie huffed.

"Are you calling me a slut?" Oria growled, bolting to her feet.

Haymitch glared at her. "I call it as I see it. Girls don't let guys into their pants until they're married around here."

"In your youth maybe! What am I supposed to do? Elope with Kal?" their daughter scoffed. "This isn't the Dark Days anymore! Wake up, Dad."

"Your father _does_ have a point, Oria." Effie cut in. "You do not want people to get the wrong idea about you…"

" _Seriously_?" The sixteen years old rolled her eyes. "Mom, _you_ slept around so much you don't even know who my father is. I'm not sure you've got room to lecture me."

"Don't call your mother a slut." Haymitch warned, taking a step forward. Effie swiftly placed herself in front of him because she could feel his patience was frail and his control even thinner.

"I can't call her a slut but _you_ can call _me_ a slut?" Oria spat "How is that fair? He touched my boob over my bra, end of the story. _For fuck's sake!_ "

"Don't swear, Orianna, it is unladylike." she chided her, touching her brow. "We should all calm down. Haymitch, why don't go take a walk. Calm yourself."

"No." he scowled. "'Cause you're just going to stand there and tell her she has to have safe sex."

"I would rather she _has_ safe sex." she replied.

"She shouldn't have sex _at all!_ " he shouted. "Why am I the only one seeing that?"

"Can we stop talking about it?" Oria exploded. "I'm not having sex, okay? I promised Mom I would tell her, I _will_ tell her. I don't have to tell you _everything_ though, right?"

"No, you do not." Effie granted. "Except if you want to or if you have questions or…"

"I don't." their daughter whined, clearly embarrassed.

"You can go." she offered.

"You're doing it again!" Haymitch shouted. "You're giving her tacit permission to screw boys in the shed! You are _not_ allowed to let a boy _touch_ you, Orianna. And you are _not_ allowed to take your shirt off. Or your pants. Or _any_ clothes."

"Enough, Haymitch." Effie snapped. "Oria, go up to your room, please."

The teenager didn't need to be told twice. She scampered away and stomped on the stairs like Effie always reminded her _not_ to do.

"Why do you do that?" Haymitch sneered. "You want her to be Capitol so bad? Like it's not enough she dyes her hair ridiculous colors and wears weird clothes?"

 _If_ _only_ Effie had had a say in whatever her daughter was wearing… But Effie's fashion sense had been called _uncool_ in every manners under the sun by the girl and Oria was dead bent on becoming a famous stylist herself – to Haymitch's dismay – and thus claimed it was never too early to start her own brand which was why she only wore customized clothes or whatever expensive outfits Lyssandra shipped her from the Capitol. Her sister was encouraging Oria in ways Effie wasn't always comfortable with.

" _I_ don't force her to do anything about her style, Haymitch. She decides for herself." she sighed. "And this had nothing to do with her being Capitol or District. She is sixteen, she is curious. She is experimenting."

"Can't she experiment on her own?" he spat, his face so red she grabbed his arm and forced him to sit down again. "He had his hand down her bra."

"She said it wasn't inside." she argued.

"It was well on its way there." he groaned, letting his head fall back against the couch. "I feel _sick_."

She placed her hand on his forehead with a tinge of worry and hurried to the kitchen to get him a glass of cold water. She didn't take no for an answer and forced him to slowly sip it. The vein on his temple was still beating fast.

"Will you calm down before you have an attack?" she demanded.

"Would suit both of you right." he muttered. "You'll be happy then. Your daughter can have orgies and you can let her."

She sighed one more time, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Haymitch… What did you do with girls when you were sixteen?"

"I was sent in an arena when I was sixteen or did you forget already?" he taunted.

"No." she said firmly. "Don't do that. Don't play the Games card. That is not what I asked."

"It was different." he snapped. "I loved my girl. I was going to marry her. So what if we did some fumbling… _I was going to marry her_. I _respected_ her. You think that boy respects our daughter? 'Cause I can tell you he doesn't. She deserves better."

"Is there a boy out there who will ever be good enough for her?" Effie teased.

"Would have to prove himself." he grumbled.

She ran her fingers in his graying hair with a smile until he finally relaxed.

"You are very silly but I do love you." she declared.

"Tell her not to do it again." he begged. "She doesn't listen to me…"

"You called her a slut, Haymitch." she pointed out. "That was unforgivable and you _will_ apologize for that. I won't have sex being a taboo subject in this house. I want her to feel comfortable talking to me about it. It is the only way to ensure she doesn't do anything stupid and it will be more effective than your shouting."

"She called you a slut too." he growled, always protective.

It was an old argument by now. Something Oria liked to use against her when the fight grew really heated. It almost didn't hurt anymore.

"You had backed her up in a metaphorical corner." she chided him.

"She's my baby, boys can't just paw at her like that." he sulked.

She pressed a kiss against his cheek, reassured to see he had cooled off a little. "I am going to check on her. You are going to sit and keep on calming down. You are fifty-nine, Haymitch. You should be more careful."

"What are you going to tell her? You're going to tell her not to do it again right?" he insisted. "Tell her she's _too_ _young_. Tell her sex is better when you're old. _Really_ old. Like… _forty years old_ old."

"Of course." she humored him.

The first thing she would tell Oria is not to do that in the shed or anywhere they could catch her again. She didn't particularly want to stumble upon _that_ and she thought if it happened again Haymitch might very well have a heart attack next time.


	27. Growing Up

Prompt : :Hi! Could you go into how oria talks to Katniss and Peeta about the games and possibly the rebellion? Love the stories so far!

 ** _Growing Up_**

Her palm rubbed against the battered leather patch of her bow as she silently moved between the trees, automatically adjusting her grip on the weapon while she treaded carefully on the treacherous winter forest ground.

The rustle of branches alerted her and she turned around, an arrow notched and ready to fly, only to see the bird fall, its neck already pierced by another arrow. Another bird took flight and this time she aimed and shot in the same breath, beating the other archer to it. The arrow didn't hit the bird in the neck but it pierced its flank and it fell all the same. Less elegant to be sure but, then again, nobody shot like her aunt Katniss, not even her.

Oria shouldered her bow and headed toward where her game had fallen, untying her hair from its messy ponytail and wondering how she could convince her mother to let her dye it again. Her mother was ridiculously insistent on the idea that the numerous dye jobs would damage it completely and thus she had forbidden her to do it again for at least six months. Oria had gone ahead anyway and dyed some strands a pale sky blue. The blue was fading though and her hair had grown, it wasn't as pretty as it used to be. She wanted bubblegum pink hair this time, that was the latest rage in the Capitol – her Aunt Lyssa had sent her pictures of her own dye job and it was _lovely_ – and Oria felt it wasn't because she lived in the deep end of the country that she couldn't be fashionable.

She loved Twelve. She loved the woods and the lake and her friends… But she also loved her visits to the city and everything she couldn't get easily at home. At fifteen, Oria felt she should have been allowed her own choices. If she wanted pink hair, she didn't see why she would need her mother's permission – after all it was _her_ hair and it wasn't because her mom stubbornly kept dying her hair blond to hide the grey strands that Oria had to resort to such a plain color.

She was mulling on the thought when she bent down to retrieve her dead bird and tossed it in her bag with the two squirrels.

"Good job."

She startled and turned around, slowly relaxing when she saw the figure of her aunt slipping out from between two trees. She flashed Katniss a beaming smile. "I had a great teacher."

"And you were a great student." her aunt granted with a small smile, easily falling in step with her. "Let's check the snares and we can go home."

Oria nodded, glancing at Katniss' game bag, not surprised to find it full. She would sell the extra meat in town, she knew – Oria did too sometimes when she needed the money for things neither her mom nor her dad needed to know about. She was _pretty_ sure if her father ever found out about the cigarettes, he would lock her in the attic and never let her out again.

"What are you scheming?" Katniss asked with a knowing look and an amused twitch of her lips.

Oria shrugged with an impish smile of her own. "How to get my hands on pink hair dye."

She didn't have a lot of secrets for Katniss. Unlike her parents, Aunt Katniss and Uncle Peeta were _cool_ and never made a big fuss out of the smallest things. Katniss had grumbled when she had had her first boyfriend but she hadn't made the scene her Dad had caused – and she was _still_ angry about that – as for Peeta, he had just told her to be careful and to let him know if she needed him to kick Kal's ass. Which was ridiculous. First, Kal didn't need his ass kicked. Second, she was perfectly capable of doing the ass-kicking if it was required.

"I guess it's true the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Katniss muttered before drawing out a heavy sigh. "You know Haymitch will have a fit if you show up with pink hair."

Oria rolled her eyes. "Dad has a fit every two days. He's a _dinosaur_. He doesn't understand _anything_. And he's on my back _all the time_."

"Well, he never threatened to have an earpiece stuck in your skull so he could annoy you twenty-four hours a day, count yourself lucky." Katniss snorted.

"When was that?" she asked, curious. "During the war?"

Her aunt grew more sullen and Oria thought she was happy for the excuse of bending down to check the snares.

"Yes." Katniss finally answered, her voice curt and short like always when the war or the time before that was mentioned.

Oria was fascinated by the whole story but it was almost taboo at home. She and Finn had learned to never mention it, whatever they had found out came from their Aunt Jo, their Uncle Beetee and various books. Aunt Annie should never been asked directly, her mom and dad had a tendency to shut down when the subject came up, Katniss would take a faraway look and Uncle Peeta always left the room.

"It sounds like Dad." she joked with faked casualness.

Katniss relaxed a little. "Yeah. That's Haymitch for you, I guess. He wasn't wrong though. I was being reckless. If Willow or Rye ever do to me half of what I've done to him…"

Her aunt was tensing again and Oria wisely steered the conversation back on safer paths. "Nothing reckless about hair dye."

"Sneaking out in the middle of the night to some carriage race _is_ reckless." Katniss argued, slightly judgmental.

"I got grounded _two months_ for that, can we let it go already?" she sighed.

"And getting drunk with your friends by the lake?" her aunt insisted. "At _fifteen_?"

"Okay, okay…" Oria granted with annoyance. "I'm a horrible daughter."

Maybe Katniss and Peeta weren't _that_ cool.

"Not _horrible_ , no." her aunt corrected, untying a dead rabbit from her snare and tossing it in her bag with the rest of the game. "But you're difficult and it's taking its toll on Haymitch."

Katniss was always blunt, you could never fault her with hypocrisy, and somehow it hurt.

"I'm just trying to live my life." Oria protested, kicking a pebble out of her way. "It's _my_ life, I should be able to live it like I want to."

She expected the usual _"you're fifteen"_ because it was her mother's favorite argument but Katniss placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"It's not just _your_ life, Oria. You have responsibilities to the people who love you." her aunt told her firmly. "You are the most important thing in your parents' life. If they ever lost you…"

"Why would they lose me?" she scoffed. "That carriage race wasn't _that_ risky and I'm not stupid enough to go swimming if I'm drunk." Not that she would ever get drunk again, her father had put the fear of alcohol into her forever. "Give me _some_ credit."

"Accidents happen." Katniss replied harshly, digging her fingers in the flesh of her shoulder. "Death is swift and it doesn't worry about being fair." She shrugged. "You never know when it's coming. Look at that bird you killed, do you think this morning it knew it would end up in your plate?"

Oria rolled her eyes. "It's just a bird."

"We're all just birds." her aunt retorted. "And nobody knows that better than your dad."

They started walking again, tacitly heading on the path that would take them back to the meadow. It took several minutes before Oria found the strength to ask what she wanted to know. "What is it like? Being in an arena? Dad never talks about it. He never… He _explained_ but he never said what it was like."

Katniss didn't answer at once and for a while Oria thought she wouldn't answer at all.

"You go in knowing if you come out you will be different." her aunt said at last. "For everyone you kill, you lose something, a piece of you. For everyone you fail to protect, you lose something else. And it goes on and on until there is nothing left of who you used to be. There's just a shell of a body you don't know what to do with. Haymitch tried to drink that feeling away, I can't exactly blame him for that."

She pondered that, hesitating to push further but at the same time dying to know more. The Games were such an important part of her parents' life and yet… It was a part she wasn't privy to.

"What was he like? When you met him?" she asked. "Mom doesn't want to talk about that much. She says it's now that counts."

"He wasn't exactly… nice." Katniss hesitated. "He was drunk all the time and he was a nasty drunk more often than not."

"When did he stop for good?" she insisted. "After the war?"

"He stopped when Effie came back." her aunt shrugged. "He was lost without her, I guess. Peeta and I only noticed how unhappy he had been when she came back. He was happier then."

"He does love Mom." she smiled because that was something she had never doubted. Not _ever_.

"She's family." Katniss nodded. "We should have gone after her before. We didn't know she wasn't doing well. Didn't even think to check on her."

It was Oria's turn to fall into a contemplative, almost defensive, silence. What had led her mother to seek refuge in Twelve wasn't something she liked to linger on. She would never know who her biological father was because her mother didn't know and it was hard sometimes, when her parents were lecturing her about her behavior, not to throw that in her mother's face. She had used it as a weapon once and once only, she would never do it again. She still had nightmares about that day.

"So what are you getting Rye for his birthday?" she asked, preferring to change the subject.

They debated about possible gifts all the way to the meadow where they parted ways. Katniss headed to the Hob and she headed home. Her dad was sitting at the kitchen table, the reading glasses he almost never used on his nose, reading a book, a mug of tea in his hand. He looked up when she stepped in and automatically toed off her boots before her mother could start screaming.

"Had fun in the woods, baby girl?" he asked.

She didn't protest the nickname at once like she was usually prone to do lately. Instead she shrugged. "Yeah. Got a couple of birds and two squirrels."

She dropped her game bag on the table and nudged the book up to see what he was reading. A thriller novel, not so surprising, he always bragged about being able to guess who the murderer was way before the detective. She moved behind his chair and wrapped her arms around him, bending in two to kiss his stubble-covered cheek before propping her chin on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sounded genuinely surprised and almost anxious.

"Nothing." she replied defensively. "I love you, that's all."

She couldn't remember the last time she had said it and maybe Katniss had a point after all, maybe she _was_ difficult.

"Now, _what_ did you do?" he chuckled. "Must be bad if you're cuddling me…"

"Nothing." she insisted, letting go of him to go make herself a cup of hot cocoa.

It was the moment, her mother chose to wander in the kitchen.

"Oh, you are back." she greeted her with a smile. "Did you have fun with Aunt Katniss, sweetie?" Her blue eyes fell on her feet and she sighed. " _Do_ put your slippers on before you catch a cold."

Oria rolled her eyes but abandoned the milk watching to her mother while she fetched the slippers from the main hall. When she came back in the kitchen, her father's eyes tracked her.

"Say, sweetheart…" he said, his tone torn between amusement and apprehension. "Our daughter gives spontaneous cuddles and says she loves me… How worried should I be?"

Her mother stopped whatever she was doing in front of the sink to turn to her with a frown. "Now, _what_ did you do, Orianna?"

"What? So I can't say I love you now?" She pursed her lips in annoyance. " _See_ , this is so unfair! You _always_ assume I'm doing something wrong even when I'm trying to be _nice_."

" _You_ , be fair." her father snorted. "When you go for a hug lately it either means you've done something you know we're bound to find out or you want money. I'm just asking, baby girl… Which is it this time?"

"I'm not a baby." she grumbled.

" _Now_ , you're back." he smirked. "My teenage monster… I was afraid someone had replaced you with a copy for a second there."

"Haymitch, don't encourage her." her mother sighed.

But her father laughed, clearly more amused than angry with the situation and stood up from the table, wrapping an arm around her mother's waist – and, _really,_ they were both in their fifties _when_ would they stop with the embarrassing PDA – and opening his other one to her.

"Come on, baby girl… It's been too long since the last group hug." he taunted.

Her mother was shaking her head and fighting a smile but she hugged him back nonetheless. "You are ridiculous."

"That's what you _always_ say, Princess, but you're still married to me." he smirked, wriggling his fingers in Oria's direction. "You're coming or not? You're missing out on an awesome hug."

She rolled her eyes and joined them, making a show of how much of a chore it was but secretly enjoying his antics.

There was nowhere safer than in her parents' arms.


	28. Late Chat In The Dead Of Night

Sappy prompt time: Haymitch talking to baby Oria about how happy he is with Effie. It's easier for him to talk to s baby than to Effie about his feelings. And Effie somehow gets a chance to listen to the conversation and is moved by his words.

 _ **Late Chat In The Dead Of Night**_

"Come on, baby girl, stop crying…" he hummed sleepily, gently rocking the baby in his arms. It still felt awkward and he was still scared out of his mind of dropping her. Three weeks weren't really enough to adjust. And yet the happiness hadn't subsided. He looked down at the baby and he found himself smiling like an idiot because she was beautiful and she was _his_. "You're going to wake your mommy and we can't have that."

He made clucking sounds with his tongue because Oria usually liked that, slowly pacing around the nursery. He had changed her, he had fed her… She was just being cranky, he figured. If nothing else worked he would take her out in the prim for a walk around the Village, it always seemed to put her to sleep – but that also required getting shoes on and wrapping both of them in enough layers that they wouldn't get a cold.

"I swear you've got your mom's lungs." he snorted, shifting her weight in the crook of his left arm to rub the huge green frog on her tummy. It was his favorite romper, a gift from Annie. It was green with a crowned frog on the front. He found it funny and he never lost a chance to put Oria in it, to Effie's endless amusement. "Got her eyes too. Bluest eyes ever." She seemed to settle down a little so he kept on rubbing her stomach, talking in a low voice to lull her to sleep. "I bet you'll have her blond hair. You'll be just as pretty."

He sat in the rocking chair Effie used to feed her, pushing on his feet a little to settle on a soft rocking motion.

"You'll have all the boys chasing after you and I'll spend my time threatening to kill them." he predicted. "It's okay… I'm used to that. Spent a lot of time plotting the murder of your mom's boyfriends. Don't tell her, she doesn't know."

Oria cooed and he snorted.

"Yeah, I know… Should have said something. But Daddy's a coward." He shrugged a little, smirking down at her. "You'll get her courage though. Her strength. Her kindness too. She's something else, your mom… _Very_ ridiculous. You'll want to laugh at her sometimes, that's okay, I do too. But… Never met someone like her. Can I tell you a secret?"

The baby's eyelids were dropping slowly, her little hand closing and opening regularly, and he kept talking, knowing if he stopped she would start crying again. Effie liked to say she was a Daddy's girl.

"Never thought I could be this happy." he confessed. "Never thought I wanted _this_. You, her… A family. Never thought I _could_ have this. Wouldn't have done it with anyone else but her either. I used to think… I used to think my girl was _it_ , you know – love of my life, one in a million kind of _it_ – but I was wrong. I was a kid… I didn't know… _She's_ it. You mom. _She's_ it. I'd choose her. Again and again. 'Cause…" Oria was asleep now but he licked his lips anyway. "You're everything to me, Princess."

"And you are everything to me." Effie offered in a whisper from the dark corridor. She stepped in, smiling at the two of them in the rocking-chair. "I didn't mean to intrude but the baby monitor was on and I woke up to your voice."

"Sorry." he winced. "Was trying not to wake you. She's asleep now."

"Don't be sorry." she smiled, walking closer to relieve him from the sleeping baby. "There are worse ways to wake up."

She carried Oria back to her crib and he followed, wrapping his arms around her waist once he was sure the baby was safely down.

"Can you believe she's ours?" he asked, still a little stunned about that. "Well, _yours_. But… a little mine."

"She is _ours_." she countered firmly, leaning against his chest. "Biology has nothing to do with this. You will be the only father she will know. She is yours just as much as she is mine."

He pressed a kiss on the side of her neck. "She's turning me into a soppy guy, you know. I'm becoming a softie."

Effie grinned. "There are worse fates, aren't they?"

"Yeah." he snorted. "Yeah, there are."


	29. Plans For The Future

Prompt: Because my love for your sweet Hayffie child Oria is endless, I'd like to prompt you with your hc about what her job ambitions are as a rebellious teenager and how Haymitch and Effie react to her ideas ;)

 _ **Plans For The Future**_

Haymitch impatiently waited on Twelve's station platform, his hands buried in his pockets, scanning the horizon for the train that was scheduled to come in any minute. He wasn't the only one waiting but he felt alone and he regretted not having accepted the kids' offer to come with him. He could have at least taken Willow and Rye, it would have made for a distraction.

The last two weeks had been pure _hell_ and it had taken a lot out of him not to go back to his old demons. He wasn't used to the house being empty anymore. He had felt Effie and Oria's absence deeply and daily phone calls had done nothing to assuage the pain.

It was his own fault, he figured. He should have gone with them even if he hated the Capitol and if the thought of staying at his sister-in-law's house was enough to make him want to scream. Effie hadn't seen Lyssandra in years… It was natural she wanted to visit. And Oria had always been fonder of the Capitol than either of them the rare few times they had taken her – hell, her various colorful hairstyles were proof of that.

The train appeared in the distance and Haymitch perked up, unable to suppress the smile that blossomed on his lips. He had missed them. He had missed them _so much_ …

There was some activity once the train aligned in the station, maintenance crew and travelers boarding and exiting the train, but Effie had never really been hard to spot in a crow. He waved at her, already walking in his wife's direction. Effie's bright smile burst forth when she saw him and they more or less collided halfway. He didn't even care about the fact they were in public, he kissed her first thing, finally relaxing when her hand coiled around his neck.

"Do you _have_ to act like that?" Oria grumbled. "It's _embarrassing_."

He broke the kiss to hug the fourteen years old only to make a face when he spotted the vivid red strands.

"What did you do to your hair now?" he sighed, wrapping his arms around his daughter's shoulders. He would have loved to sound less nonplussed about it but, truth be told, red dye wasn't the worst she had done.

"Mom said it was okay." Oria shrugged, escaping the hug and tossing suspicious glances around, obviously not willing to be caught embracing either of her parents. It would probably hurt her reputation or something. She liked to think she was all grown up already. Suddenly, her face became all innocence and she leaned against his side, batting her eyelashes and watching him with her bright blue puppy eyes. "Daddy…"

"Yeah, see… I never like it when you start with _Daddy_." he snorted. "What do you want and how much is it going to cost me?"

"Nothing." Effie cut in. "Because we already had the discussion on the train and I said _no._ Now, Orianna, _enough_ with this."

"But…" their daughter argued.

"I said _no_." she snapped, harsher than she usually would.

Oria pouted, kicked a pebble, launched herself in her usual rant about how _unfair_ they were always being and started to walk ahead of them in the direction of the station's exit – leaving him to carry her huge and heavy suitcase, that went without saying.

"Okay, what was that about?" he asked, picking up all their luggage despite Effie's protests that she could help – and, _yeah_ , maybe he _should_ have let Peeta come along.

"She decided she wanted to become a stylist." she explained. "Which isn't such a surprise given her interest in fashion."

He rolled his eyes, not quite happy with that but liking it better than if she had decided to go into modeling. He knew only too well how _that_ business worked and that wasn't a place for his daughter. Designing clothes… It wasn't so bad. And he might not like the blending of Capitol and Districts Oria had chosen as her own fashion style but it didn't mean he couldn't see she had an eye for those things.

"So what?" he shrugged. "She's still young. And it could be worse."

"Oh, just wait for it…" Effie clicked her tongue with annoyance. "The Capitol is, of course, the fashion's capital so she decided she wanted to _move_ there because it was the best place for her to, and I quote: dedicate herself to her craft. Lyssandra found the idea wonderful and offered her a place to live. I heard nothing but _Mommy please_ and _Mom I hate you_ during the whole trip back."

"No way." he scowled.

"Did you just hear what I said?" she huffed. " _Of course_ there is no way I will allow _my baby_ to live on the other end of the country at fourteen. Never mind in the _Capitol_."

He hummed in agreement, adjusting his hold on the luggage and keeping his eyes on the red hair of his daughter who was still sulking ahead. "What's up with the red dye? Thought we were against dye."

"We are against her dying her hair behind our back and using awful products." she corrected. "I took her to a hairdresser. We had a girl outing… We shopped and had our nails done. It was actually a nice day. There was no arguments."

"Lucky for you." he scoffed. "I barely got a hello, never mind an _I missed you_."

" _I_ missed you." she grinned, bumping her shoulder against his. "I took advantage of this little trip to the city to visit your favorite lingerie shop…"

He smirked down at her, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "I think tonight's going to be an early night."

"It might very well be if your daughter and her grumpy temper keep this act up." she sighed, her amusement fading.

"How is she only _my_ daughter now?" he chuckled. "Looks like she's _you_ r daughter with her dyed hair and all that _shit_."

"She is stubborn, sarcastic and borderline rude." she argued. "All these features, she got from you."

"Yeah…" he admitted, his lips twitching. "I'm kinda proud of that."

Effie shook her head. "Let's see if you are still proud when she talks your ear off about going to live in the Capitol for the next week. It will take at least that long for that fancy to pass."

It did in fact take a whole week.

And he was ready to tear his hair off by the end of it.


	30. Her Knights

Prompt : I love oria-verse! Prompt! if you can. Hayffie must go to the principals office cuz Oria punched a boy for taunting her/her parents about their past or w.e . Effie is appalled but H is like *shrug* "shouldn't have been talkin shit" or w.e. THANKS!

 _ **Her Knights**_

Effie's smile was polite but so strained Haymitch was waiting for it to _snap_. She was sitting at the very edge of her chair, her hands on her lap, her right hand absentmindedly turning her wedding ring around her finger.

He doubted she had _ever_ been called in the principal's office before.

"I am _certain_ this all a very big misunderstanding." she declared, tossing Haymitch a pleading look.

His grey eyes wandered from the stern looking man presiding behind his desk to the eleven years old sitting between them. The kid was keeping her eyes resolutely downcast, her hands gripping the edge of the chair she was sitting on, her legs crossed at the ankles, and kept nervously tapping the leg on top against the other one.

"I assure you it's not, Mrs Abernathy." the man said. "Orianna was caught fighting during recess. Dylan suffered from such a nosebleed their teacher was afraid she had broken his nose."

Effie licked her lips. "Orianna _doesn't_ get into fights, Principal Wesilton. She knows better."

Denial had always been a great talent of hers, Haymitch thought.

"Oria, did you hit the boy?" he asked.

Oria glanced up at him, her blue eyes just a tiny bit afraid but mostly _unyielding_. The sulk on her face was so reminiscent of Katniss' for a moment that he automatically scowled. She pouted. "He was looking for it, Dad."

" _Orianna_." Effie screeched, absolutely mortified. She flushed crimson.

"Why?" he cut in before his wife could start ranting.

"The reasons aren't important." the principal commented. "We have a no bullying policy and…"

"He called Mom a Capitol whore." Oria replied calmly. "And he said you are a dog for Capitol whores. I'm not _exactly_ sure what it means but it didn't seem nice."

"It is _not_." Effie fumed. "And I don't want you repeating those words again, Oria."

The kid shrugged and so did Haymitch. "That boy had it coming."

"Mr Abernathy." the principal gritted his teeth. "We do not…"

"Naturally, it was no excuse to resort to violence." Effie cut him off, rather rudely if Haymitch said so himself. "And we will be sure to talk with our daughter. I trust you will talk to this boy? After all… A no bullying policy do not stop at physical actions, am I wrong?"

She added the last part with a sweet innocent smile that was just as fake as it was dangerous. Haymitch leaned back in his chair, enjoying the show. It reminded him of another life, when she had stared down stylists and other escorts who had made the mistake of insulting Twelve.

In a matter of minutes, they were done with the whole thing. The principal actually _apologized_ on behalf of the other kid and promised that if Orianna was to be punished for her behavior, so would the boy for his words.

When they walked out of the school, there was a spring in Oria's steps. She slipped her hand in his with a bright smile.

"Don't think you're off the hook." he snorted. "Mom won't let you go around punching people."

"Certainly not." Effie huffed. "You are _grounded_ , of course. I think two weeks without hunts in the woods with Katniss and three without TV should do the trick nicely." Oria's good mood deflated a little but Effie still looked her over twice. "You did not hurt yourself, did you? Fighting with _boys_. Orianna, _truly_."

"Of course not." Oria retorted, almost offended and obviously proud. "I did it just like Aunt Jo taught me, thumb outside of the fist and everything."

Haymitch rubbed his face with his free hand, trying to hide his smirk. He probably shouldn't have been _that_ amused by that comment. That was what you got when victors raised a child.

Effie clucked her tongue. "Johanna and I are going to have a _long_ conversation."

"She'll love it, I bet." he chuckled. "Been some time since you lectured her."

"This is not a funny matter, Haymitch." Effie scolded him, grabbing Oria's free hand. He could remember a time when their daughter would use both of their grip as leverage to swing between them. The memory seemed to be far from Effie's thoughts though. "What this boy said wasn't nice at all and I cannot begin to imagine how you felt. You must have felt insulted on our behalf and you must have felt the need to… _defend_ us but, darling…" Her voice faltered and she kept her eyes straight ahead rather than crouching in front of their girl like she always did when she was trying to get something important across. "A lot of people are going to say nasty things about your father and me. About _me_ in particular. We explained this, didn't we? You know… You know what I used to do. Who I used to be. You know why people do not like me."

"People are idiots." Oria declared.

"That's my girl!" Haymitch approved.

" _Haymitch_." Effie hissed. "You are _not_ helping."

He rolled his eyes but tugged a little on their daughter's hand to get her attention. "Mom's got a point though, baby girl. You can't waste your time punching all the idiots in the world, your hand will get sore and there will still be a thousand of them waiting in line."

Oria pouted a little. "I can punch a few."

"No, you _cannot_. Ladies do not start fights." Effie argued.

"But they can finish them." Oria grumbled under her breath and Haymitch smirked but didn't comment because Effie hadn't heard and it was probably better that way. "Am I punished from Uncle Peeta's cupcakes? Can we stop at the bakery to get some?"

"Do you think you deserve any sort of treat today?" Effie retorted.

Haymitch shrugged. "Could go for a pastry. Come on, sweetheart… Like _you_ 're not dying for a slice of strawberry pie…"

Effie pursed her lips, her blue eyes darting from him to their daughter, and then she sighed. "I suppose a pastry won't hurt."

Oria flashed her a wide grin. "I love you so much!"

Effie's face softened. "I love you too, sweetie."

The girl let go of their hands and ran ahead in the direction of the bakery. They automatically sped their pace up not to lose sight of her.

"We are awful parents." Effie declared. "We ought to lecture her more, not reward this kind of behavior with pastries."

"She punched a boy 'cause he called us names. It's not like she did it for kicks." he replied. "Wait until I find that kid's father…"

There were things he didn't tolerate. Anyone calling his wife a _whore_ was one of them.

"You will do nothing, Haymitch." she snapped. "If the problem arises again, _I_ will deal with it."

He scowled, not happy with that arrangement but he knew there was no point arguing when she had decided something. "Fine."

Her lips twitched and she slipped her hand in his. "I love that you are both so protective of me."

He answered that by squeezing her hand.

He wasn't as good with words as he would have liked.


	31. Motherhood & Fatherhood

Prompt : Hey :) Could you write something where Oria is a baby and Effie is breastfeeding her and Haymitch can't handle it? :D

 _ **Motherhood & Fatherhood**_

The cries immediately stopped when the baby's mouth latched on her nipple. Effie hummed gently, brushing her finger against the soft blonde fuzz on Oria's head, and Haymitch watched, transfixed, before making a face and hurrying to draw the living-room's curtains closed. They hadn't been back home for more than half an hour and he was already in full panic mode.

Somehow, while they were both in the hospital, panicking hadn't seemed such a natural reaction.

"Do you _have_ to do _that_ here?" he grumbled. He tried not to stare but, like every time, he was completely fascinated by the process and he couldn't decide if it was in a good or a bad way.

"Where do you want me to do this? In the cupboard?" she scoffed. "She is going to need to eat several times a day. It is perfectly natural. You should get used to it."

He rolled his eyes, swallowing back the perfectly valid remark that she could have gone in the nursery to feed her. The kids were gone – and he wasn't sure the kids would have stopped her from breastfeeding because he had walked in on her doing that with _Peeta_ sitting right next to the bed the previous day and he wasn't sure _when_ the boy had arrived and if everything had already been out of sight – and it was just them. As she had pointed out, he had seen her naked plenty of times before, this was no different.

Except it _was_.

She patted the couch cushion right next to her and he obediently sat down, if only so he could watch their little miracle all he wanted. He would _never_ get tired of watching that kid. She was perfect. Absolutely, _completely_ perfect.

"What is bothering you about breastfeeding?" she frowned. "I have read _everywhere_ that if the mother is able, it is better to do it this way for the child's sake."

"Nah, it's not bothering me." he denied, waving that objection away. "It's just… I'm not used to sharing your breasts, sweetheart, that's all."

She snorted and then laughed. It disturbed Oria who started crying again, opening and closing her little mouth, looking for her food. Effie gently guided their daughter's mouth back to her nipple, still chuckling.

"You _do_ realize it is completely different, yes?" she grinned.

"I'm not a complete idiot, you know?" he mumbled. He reached out carefully and rubbed his finger on Oria's tummy. He liked the blue romper they had put her in that morning before leaving the hospital, it had a tiny cartoon dragon on it. It was a gift from Jo.

"Do you have questions?" she asked tactfully.

"Does it feel the same as when I do it?" he retorted immediately.

She let her head drop against the back on the couch, careful not to disturb the child, watching him. He didn't look back, he was too focused on their daughter, ready to intervene if she started coughing like she had once or twice when she had eaten too much.

"No. It is very different." she answered eventually.

"Does it hurt?" he asked then, because her comfort was always important to him.

"A bit sometimes." she admitted. "But nothing I cannot handle."

He glanced up at her, saw she was genuinely smiling with confidence and not simply putting up a show for his sake, and he smirked.

"It looks good on you." he said softly.

"What does?" she frowned.

"Motherhood." he shrugged, wrapping his fingers around Oria's tiny foot.

He just hoped _he_ wouldn't suck too much at fatherhood.


	32. His Girls

Prompt: You reblogged this photo with the woman in bed and her child and please please please take this to write a Hayffie + Oria chapter where Haymitch sees his girls like this and realizes how much he loves them and maybe he could crawl into bed with them then. Thank you!

 _ **His Girls**_

The house was quiet which was something it _never_ was anymore – Haymitch was glad about that, he had spent too many years drowning in the overwhelming silence.

He put the geese's food away in the cupboard and wandered downstairs, looking for his family. The living-room was empty although in a state of disarray that would probably have Effie ranting soon – having a three years old in the house made it _very_ difficult for her to remain the neat freak she used to be, Oria put toys everywhere and never bothered putting them back in the various boxes they had in every room for that exact purpose.

He went up the stairs as quietly as he could, his best guess being that Effie and Oria were taking a nap. That wasn't Effie's favorite activity – not to say it might have been _torture_ to her – but lately Oria didn't want to go sleep if one of them wasn't there the whole time it took for her to actually fall asleep, which meant they both ended up taking their fair share of naps.

Their daughter's bedroom was empty though, so he naturally went on to the master bedroom, being extra-careful not to make any noise when he heard the whispering.

"I like yellow flowers better." Oria was saying very seriously. "'Cause yellow is like the sun and the sun is pretty, and pink is for princesses and I don't want to be a princess."

"Princesses _are_ pretty though." Effie argued, a smile in her voice.

He leaned against the threshold of their bedroom, his lips stretching into a content smirk and his heart swelling with love when he caught sight of them. They were lying on top of the covers, curled up against his each other, heads level on the pillow so they could look at each other while they talked, Mr Grrr wedged between their bodies clutched in Oria's tiny arms. Their blond hair mixed on the white pillowcase, so similar he would have had trouble telling them apart.

Effie's blue eyes flicked to him and her smile widened but Oria didn't notice. The girl was sleepy, he figured, because she was usually more observant.

"Yes." the kid granted. "But they're always waiting for the prince to save them. It's _boring_."

"Some princesses save themselves." she pointed out.

"I still like yellow flowers better." Oria declared as if Effie was vastly missing the point. Their daughter put her hand on Effie's cheek and pulled until their foreheads were pressed together. "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you too, sweetie." she murmured, wrapping her arm around her and drawing her closer.

"And me?" Haymitch asked, faking a sulk, and making his way to the bed. "Nobody loves me?"

The reproachful look Effie flashed him at Oria's delighted squeal was tainted with amusement. He didn't let the girl wriggle away, knowing that if they let her get up, there would be no hope of putting her to sleep. He wrapped his arm around both of them and Oria giggled in pure happiness. She liked nothing better than group hugs where she was sandwiched between the two of them.

"I love you, Daddy." the kid declared before looking expectantly at Effie.

"I love Daddy too." she promised dutifully. "Although I often wonder _why_ …"

He poked her in the side, smirking when she tried to bat his hand away.

"So, what are my girls up to?" he asked.

"We're _sleeping_." Oria said in her _duh_ voice.

"There's an _awful_ lot of talking for people who're sleeping, baby girl." he teased.

"Mommy's telling a story." she shushed him.

"I _was_ telling a story but then we got sidetracked by what color is acceptable for flowers." Effie tempered. "I don't even know where I was at."

"The princess is picking up flowers, you said they are pink and I think yellow's more pretty." Oria yawned, nestling back more comfortably against Haymitch's chest, bringing her stuffed bear to her face.

"Pink sucks." Haymitch agreed before her mother could correct her grammar.

" _Language_." Effie snapped.

He winked at her when Oria giggled – that girl was _always_ eager for him to get scolded – but he could tell her annoyance was genuine. He had a bad habit of swearing in front of their daughter and it often led to awkward discussions about what it was proper to say and why Haymitch was _rude_. Effie had threatened several times to start a swear jar and he knew it was only a matter of time until one actually appeared on the fireplace's mantle.

The story she spun wasn't really original and it wasn't really good either – some sort of Capitol fairy tale, he figured – but Oria was out in ten minutes.

Neither of them moved away.

"Are _we_ taking a nap?" Effie joked at some point, slowly running her fingers in Oria's hair, gently tugging on knots so it would untangle.

"Got nothing better to do." he shrugged. "Do you?"

"Well…" she grinned. "The laundry won't magically get done and I do _not_ trust you with the washing machine. Some cleaning and tidying wouldn't go amiss. And, of course, I _would_ like to catch up on my favorite fashion show."

His lips twitched with amusement. "So _busy_ , Princess."

"I _know_ , isn't it utterly _mundane_?" she chuckled. "And yet I find I want nothing more than staying in bed with the two of you." She looked down at their sleeping child and her smile softened. "Isn't she the cutest?"

"Thought _I_ was the cutest, sweetheart." he rebuked.

"Not even close." she snorted. "Certainly not anymore."

"Worse people to lose to." he granted, pressing a small kiss to the kid's hair. "She's _pretty_ cute."

"Naturally." she huffed. "She is _ours_."

He lifted his eyebrows, waiting for her to realize she wasn't his _in that sense_ but Effie seemed oblivious to her blunder, watching their daughter with open adoration.

At times like this…

He found he thought himself the luckiest guy in the world.

Because despite everything, he got them in the end.


	33. A Lesson Learned

Prompt: Could you write a piece about Oria coming home really badly drunk? And Haymitch and Effie's reaction to this? Thank you already :3

 _ **A Lesson Learned**_

Haymitch was pacing, his face growing darker and darker by the minute, and Effie didn't have any word to offer to comfort him.

"She will be back soon." she said anyway, more hopeful than certain.

"An hour past curfew." he spat.

It would mean another screaming match, she already knew. Sometimes, she wondered how they had come to this. Haymitch and Oria had been so close when she was child… But the older their daughter got, the less they understood each other. Oria was difficult and her interests had changed, far from what Haymitch could understand or try to learn, leaving Effie to play mediator more often than not. She hated it.

They had good days, of course. And they all loved each other. All family had their problems and they were just like everyone else, it didn't lessen what they all felt for each other…

But since Oria had hit the rebellious age of thirteen, it had mostly been slamming doors, cries of injustice and accusations that they were old-fashioned and boring people.

"At least she did not sneak out in the middle of the night to go to a carriage race, this time." she pointed out with a sigh.

"Yeah? Makes me wonder what's next." he scoffed.

 _Difficult_. She hadn't thought their daughter would ever be _so_ difficult. Oria used to be such a bright nice child… Always stubborn and very strong-willed but… It seemed she had taken after her, after all. She was sometimes impossible, often certain she was in the right and everyone else was in the wrong, confident to the point of arrogance…

"I cannot wait for the rebellious phase to be over." she admitted.

"When she's eighteen and she decides to go live in the Capitol, you mean?" he scowled. "That's what you're waiting for? The days when we won't ever sleep again 'cause we'll be too busy thinking about what she's getting up to in that _fucking_ city of yours?"

"Do _not_ take it out on me." she snapped. "If you didn't antagonize her so much…"

"Oh, _sure_ , sweetheart. It's _my_ fault." he sneered. "Should do it like you: _No, darling, you cannot dye your hair again, it will damage it… Why don't you wait a few months and I will take you to a saloon…_ How did _that_ work out again?"

It worked out with Oria coming back home with blue strands amongst her blond hair. At least it wasn't the whole head. Effie was determined to see the glass half full.

She pursed her lips. "You still have _no_ talent for imitating me."

He tossed her an annoyed look because it wasn't the point – and it _wasn't_ but what was the alternative? Keep on sitting there and worrying in silence?

When the back door creaked – slowly enough that a shared look was all they needed to realize that their daughter was trying to be sneaky as if they wouldn't have noticed her never coming home for dinner – Haymitch placed a finger in front of his lips.

She rolled his eyes at his theatrics but was irritated enough with Oria that she nodded once.

For a man of his stature, he could move very silently when he wanted to. He crept to the dark corridor without a sound and waited until the soft creaking of the stairs could be heard before flicking the switch, blinding them all with light.

"Care to explain where you were?" he attacked without letting their daughter recover.

Effie leaned against the living-room's doorframe, unimpressed by the clumsy way Oria tried to grab at her bag. The girl had clearly been startled and the bag was heavier than it looked to begin with. She fumbled with it but eventually dropped it. They all stared as it rolled down the few steps she had climbed and opened at Haymitch's feet, in a dramatic reveal.

To be honest, neither of them had been expecting the beer cans.

"What…" Effie frowned, suddenly terribly angry. "Where _were_ you?"

Oria looked like a doe caught in headlights. Gone was the usual bravado and attitude, she looked small standing on those stairs, her blue eyes a bit glassy.

"I… We were at the lake." she mumbled. "Lost track of time. Sorry."

" _Sorry_?" Haymitch barked.

"At the _lake_?" Effie hissed, bending down to pick up one of the cans. "You were drinking _by the lake?_ Did you go swimming ? Who were you with? This little gang of yours has lived its last day, do you hear me? I _forbid_ you to see them again."

"You can't forbid me to see my friends!" Oria exclaimed, finding some of her spark back but mostly looking like she was a bit confused about the whole thing.

"Oh, _yes_ , I _can_." she retorted. "You are underage. I can have you locked up in the house if I so wish. How much did you have to drink? You are _drunk_. Don't you realize how dangerous it could have been? What if you had fallen in the lake? What if…"

"Why?" Haymitch cut in, calmer than Effie expected him to be. She turned around, about to ask him why he wasn't screaming with her already, but she caught the look on his face, the way his grey eyes were stuck on the beer cans, and she remained silent. "Why would you drink like that? You're fifteen. You've got a roof, food, people who love you… You're _safe_. Why would you go and drink?"

Oria looked puzzled. "It was fun. We were just having fun… It's not a big deal. It's…"

"Fun." Haymitch repeated, crooking his finger at her. "Come downstairs."

The teenager sighed but stomped back down. "Look, it wasn't..."

"Your father's a drunkard." he stated. "Your father sees liquor and immediately gets thirsty. Forgot about that already?"

"Haymitch." Effie whispered, sounding pained.

Oria avoided his eyes and shuffled her weight from one foot to the other. "It's not the same. It was just for fun."

"Sure, it was." he chuckled. "Until one drink turns to two then to three then you don't know what you're doing anymore… No more worries, no more boundaries. That's a good feeling, yeah?"

Their daughter hesitated, sensing the trap but too drunk to walk around it. "I guess."

"Yeah." he nodded, almost friendly. "Tastes like freedom. That's addictive."

"I'm not _addicted_." Oria scoffed. "I've only drunk a few times…"

Effie fought the urge to slap her own face.

"A few times, yeah?" he repeated, fury carefully hidden behind detachment. "Ever got drunk enough to be sick?"

"No." Oria protested, as if it was a ridiculous notion, as if she knew better, as if getting drunk at fifteen was totally acceptable.

"Well, you are tonight." Haymitch declared, surprising everyone. He scooped the bag from the floor along with the wayward cans and snatched the one from Effie's hand. "Go to bed, sweetheart. This will take a while."

"What is _this_ exactly?" she frowned.

"A lesson." he said, nudging her toward the stairs. "Trust me and go to bed."

She hesitated and then relented, ultimately knowing that she might not approve of his methods but that Haymitch would never hurt their daughter. She went upstairs and got in her nightgown before slipping in their bed. She didn't even try to sleep though, she grabbed a book that didn't catch her attention and impatiently waited for Haymitch to join her.

It took almost an hour before there was movement in the house.

The sound of retching had her bolting out of bed and to the bathroom.

It felt like a bad case of _déjà-vu_.

Oria was kneeling on the cold tiles, emptying her stomach in the toilet, and Haymitch was holding her hair out of the way and rubbing her back.

His brilliant plan, she figured, had been to make her drink the beer until the point of no return.

"Was that necessary?" she grumbled.

"Goes straight to the point." he snorted. "Tell your mom what you just told me, baby girl."

"Never drinking again." Oria slurred, between two gags.

She shook her head at Haymitch's satisfied face and pressed his shoulder. "Go to bed, I will take care of her."

"Nah, it's fine." he said. "I've got it."

She refused to be swayed though so they both remained there, taking turn wiping their daughter's mouth and pressing damp washing cloth against her forehead and cheeks. It reminded Effie of early years, when Oria had still been a toddler with a bad case of flu…

Nevertheless, Haymitch's plan seemed to have worked because the first thing Oria did the next morning when she stomped to the breakfast table was to glare at both of them and then awkwardly mumbled that she wouldn't ever touch a drop of alcohol again.


	34. Playing Hairdresser

Prompt: Hi darling! Could you write a little piece of Haymitch asking Katniss for help on learning how to braid hair – to make it look fancy – to impress Oria with it? (maybe keeping it secret from Effie as well so she's all surpised about it?) That would be super lovely

 _ **Playing Hairdresser**_

Haymitch turned the page of his book, watching from the corner of his eyes as his five year old daughter pushed her hair back for the tenth time. She was lying down on her stomach, her tongue stuck between her teeth, very carefully coloring a fairy drawing.

"You want me to tie your hair up, baby girl?" he asked because it was clear it was bothering her.

She glanced up at him with a mistrustful expression, her little nose wrinkled. "Are you going to pull on it again?"

She looked vexed – and, he figured, for good reasons. He had been surprised to find he wasn't _terrible_ at taking care of her, he was _good_ even, but hairdos were more than he could handle. Effie was usually in charge of Oria's hair. Or Katniss when she was around.

"Look, now…" he grumbled. "It happened once and…"

The sound of the front door opening and closing interrupted him.

"Is anybody home?" Peeta's voice asked, prompting Oria to erupt in a shriek of joy and a _very loud_ " _Uncle Peeta!"._ Peeta was on the threshold by the time the girl had bolted to her feet and he got ready in time to grab the kid when she flung herself at him, holding out his cheek to receive her kiss. The boy chuckled. "Well, I'm happy to see you too. How's my favorite niece?"

"I'm your _only_ niece." Oria grinned.

"Right, I forgot." Peeta humored her, propping her on his hip to nod at Haymitch. "Hi! I was hoping to borrow Oria. I'm in need of an assistant to bake strawberry cupcakes…"

"That's Mommy's favorites in the _whole_ world!" the little girl exclaimed.

"You don't say?" Haymitch snorted with an indulgent smirk. "Wouldn't happen to be yours as well, now, baby girl?"

"Maybe." Oria giggled. "Can I go, Daddy? Pretty _please_!"

"Sure. Go knock your head off." He waved his hand. "But make sure Aunt Katniss does your hair first. You washed it yesterday, Mommy's gonna rip my head off if she has to do it again."

Both Oria and Peeta promised to behave, which made him roll his eyes and go back to his book without a second thought. He didn't really like it when Oria was out of his or Effie's sight but he trusted the kids with his life and with their daughter's.

He managed to read half a chapter before his house was invaded again. He watched Katniss come in and drop on an armchair with only a lifted eyebrow.

"Your kid is doing a mess in my kitchen." she grumbled. "Buttercup fled."

"Good survival instinct, that cat." he commented.

"I'm hanging out here until they're done." she proclaimed.

It wasn't so rare for the kids to use his house as an extension of theirs so he simply shrugged. They remained in a comfortable silence for a while. He read his book and she perused one of Effie's magazines – more out of boredom than interest, he figured. Eventually, his attention started wandering and his eyes ended up on one of Oria's dolls.

"Say, sweetheart…" he hesitated. "I kinda need a favor but if you tell anyone, nobody's gonna ever find your corpse, got it?"

She rolled her eyes, not fooled for one second. "What do you need?"

He let her laugh for a whole minute once he had explained and then barked at her to cut it off.

She laughed a few more times in the two hours it took for Peeta to bring back Oria, arms loaded with too many baked goods.

Still, her mocking taunts were worth it the next morning when Effie was dashing all around the kitchen to make sure Oria was ready before she had to leave for work. Haymitch casually told her he could take care of the kid's hair while she finished her second cup of coffee.

Oria looked up from her bowl of cereals with apprehension, tossing an imploring look at her mother.

"I've got it." he insisted when Effie _diplomatically_ tried to hint that it might be best if _she_ took care of it.

Brushing her hair was the easy part. He had been doing that since her hair had started to grow and he knew how to do it without hurting her by now. When he was done, he applied every of Katniss' instruction under Effie's watchful – and, he couldn't help but notice, _impressed_ gaze – and eventually managed a braid that was _quite_ good if he said so himself.

"Here." he declared, pleased with himself.

Oria finished the last two spoonfuls of cereals, patting her head with her left hand. She must have been happy with the result because she didn't comment, simply jumped off her chair and loudly declared she was going to brush her teeth – something she was very keen on doing since it was _a big girl thing_ to do by herself.

Haymitch was a bit put off to not, _at least,_ get his efforts acknowledged. He watched their daughter scamper off the kitchen with a pout that quickly disappeared when arms locked around his torso.

"Why, Haymitch…" she purred in his ear. "You have secret skills… What else are you hiding from me?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he smirked as she nuzzled his neck. "You should know I've got talented hands by now."

"Oh, _that_ I know…" she grinned. "I might let you do _my_ hair…"

"Yeah?" he snorted. "You're gonna have to pay me for it, you know."

"Too bad I have to go to work." she sighed, pressing a kiss on his cheek. "But tonight… I am most definitely willing to pay whatever price you require."

His smirk deepened and he leaned in for a goodbye kiss that lasted a bit longer than strictly appropriate.


	35. Quality Time

Prompt: Hey, is it possible to prompt chapters for Living The Odds as well? I'd love to read about the first time they try to have sex after her birth but she's always interrupting them. ;)

 _ **Quality Time**_

Having a baby was exhausting. All the more so when said baby refused to sleep at night.

Haymitch could barely focus on what he was doing at the moment. He washed and rinsed the bottles that had been left to soak in the sink with mechanical jerky movements. He was so focused on doing it right – because he certainly didn't want Oria to get sick – that he didn't hear Effie walk in the kitchen.

Arms wrapped around his waist and he instinctively relaxed in the embrace.

"You smell nice." he mumbled, almost shocked by the musky perfume she had on.

"I do not smell like puke for once if that is what you mean." she chuckled, raising on tip toe to delicately nibble on his earlobe. "I look nice too. Perhaps you should leave those bottles for later and see for yourself…"

He lifted his eyebrows but did as he was told without her having to ask twice. He knew that tone, that particular _purr_ in her voice… And, surely enough, when he turned around, he found her wearing a kinky bright blue lacy negligee that immediately made some parts of him jump to attention.

He licked his lips. "You can…"

Oria was only a few weeks old and between the aftermath of delivery and the natural exhaustion of being new parents… Their sex life had been very tame.

"Oh, _yes_." she grinned with shameless impatience.

They hadn't had sex since _before_ the war. The Quell, he figured, more than two years earlier, almost three. She had been so pregnant when they had gotten back together… They had fooled around a little but hands and mouths weren't the _real thing_ and…

The negligee wasn't as skimpy as some stuff she would have worn before the rebellion but he figured she must have found it around the District and that accounted for the definite _not Capitol_ vibe it sent. It was also pretty loose around her stomach, probably because she was still unhappy with the figure she hadn't managed to get back yet.

He wanted that piece of clothing off and _now_.

He wasn't quite sure how they got to kissing. They exchanged a look and the next second, she was trapped against the counter and they were aggressively devouring each other's lips, biting and licking in turn every patch of skin they could find…

He pushed the strap down her shoulder to pepper it with kisses, his hand running up her thigh, nudging it up…

Obviously that was when the baby monitor started crackling, quickly followed by a high piercing scream that echoed all over the house.

"She'll go back to sleep." he mumbled against her neck. He kept on kissing and stroking but he could tell Effie's mind wasn't on the matter anymore. She was staring at the baby monitor on the table, biting down on her bottom lip. He stopped and sighed. "You want to go."

"I am sorry…" she winced. "But she might be hungry… And if she keeps crying…"

She waved at her chest, a bit embarrassed. She would _leak_ , she meant, and he stepped back rather quickly, a bit peeved by that.

"Alright, alright… Go." he surrendered.

"Raincheck?" she asked, already halfway to the door.

As if it was even a question.

He went back to the sink and focused on washing the bottles to forget he was a bit tight in his pants.

" _Now, sweetie… What seems to be the problem…"_ Effie hummed through the baby monitor. " _Mommy_ really _wanted some quality time with Daddy…"_

And didn't Daddy want some quality time with Mommy, he mused with a snort.

But he had a feeling Oria would do her damn best to make sure it wouldn't happen any time soon.


	36. First Steps

Prompt: Have you done a oneshot of Oria taking her first steps? I think that would be such a cute one.

 _ **First Steps**_

"Aren't you going to work?" Haymitch mocked as she set up the camera. He was holding fast to the wriggling baby that wanted to escape his arms. "You're going to be late. _Rude_ , that."

Effie tossed him a glare. "If I go to work, I will miss it. I _called_ to warn I would be late, I am not uncivilized, thank you very much."

He smirked but it turned into a small real smile when Oria reached up and grabbed at his face with her baby hands. They were both sitting on the floor in the living-room, far enough from the fireplace, the coffee table had been pushed to the side, and, clearly, that wasn't good enough for his daughter. She had been trying to stand up for long periods of time for days and she had finally managed to do it the previous night without falling right back. It was only a matter of minutes before she took her first steps, they could both feel it.

And Oria was impatient.

"Alright!" Effie beamed, finally leaving the camera alone. "It is _ready_." She crouched not too far from him and opened her arms. "Now, sweetie… Come to Mommy."

Haymitch helped Oria to stand up, hands outstretched just in case she lost her balance.

"Come on, baby girl. You can do it." he coaxed. "Then I'll spend my days running after you. Think how fun it's gonna be to drive Daddy crazy…"

"Come on, Oria." Effie whispered, hands outstretched too, ready to catch her. "Come to Mommy…"

The girl took one step, tripped and plummeted forward. Haymitch didn't let her fall though. He placed her right back on her feet, delighted by her peals of laughter.

"Let's try again, yeah?" he prompted, blowing strawberries in her neck just to make her laugh harder, momentarily forgetting the whole thing would be taped.

"Sweetie, Mommy wants a cuddle too…" Effie sing-sang, wriggling her fingers to get the baby attention. It seemed to work because Oria tried taking another step again but Haymitch only let go once she managed to put a feet in front of the other for the second time. Effie, went wild though. She had tears in her eyes and a smile so wide it must have hurt. "Yes, sweetie! That's it! You did it, Oria! You did it!" The child toppled forward in her arms and she hugged her tight to her chest. "Oh, I am _so proud_ of you! Who is my big girl? That's _my_ baby!"

Haymitch couldn't help but smile at the picture they made. "Sweetheart, you're going to smother her with your boobs."

She glared at him over their daughter's shoulder. "Always ruining the moment."

"I do my best." he snorted. "Now, come on. I want a cuddle too. Hey, baby girl… Come give Daddy a cuddle."

It was his turn to open his arms and wait in trepidation as Effie helped their kid get steady on her feet. His heart burst with pride when Oria walked right to him, reeling a little from left to right but not falling again. He engulfed her in his arms and lifted her high over his head, chuckling with unabashed smugness. "That's _my_ baby girl." Oria laughed, arms stretched wide because she loved it when he swung her around – and he tried to keep that for when Effie wasn't around because the lectures weren't worth it. "Wanna try again? Go give your mommy a kiss, yeah?"

Oria managed a few trips to Effie and back before falling on her ass between them and refusing to move again.

Effie stood up and offered him a hand that he gratefully took because hauling himself off the floor was more difficult than it had been once upon a time – when he _hadn't_ hit his forties.

"She is walking!" Effie beamed, framing his face with her hands and planting a long peck on his lips. "Our baby is walking! Oh, I could _burst_!"

"Try not to." he teased. "Would be hard to clean."

She whacked his arm with a mild glare that faded away after a couple of seconds. "I cannot be mad at you, Haymitch, even if you try to aggravate me. Do you know why? Because our child is _walking_!"

"Is she?" he mocked. "Hadn't realized…"

She rolled his eyes at him and scooped their daughter from the floor, dropping kisses all over her face. "And she is walking better than any baby too!"

"'Cause you draw comparative studies and _shit_?" he chuckled.

"Language." she snapped. "Isn't it obvious? She is _perfect_. Of course, she would do everything better than other babies. Right, sweetie? Your Daddy is being very obtuse."

"Okay, okay…" he surrendered, walking closer to wrap his arms around both of his girls. "Can't fight you on that. She's perfect."

And she _did_ walk better than any other baby, he decided.


	37. Tea Time

Prompt: Haymitch's 4-year-old daughter makes him have a tiny tea party with her.

and

Hi! I have a prompt for you! ^^ It's about Oria, so: Effie goes grocery shopping leaving Haymitch to watch little Oria. When Effie comes home, she sees Haymitch having a tea party with Oria. =D Thanks

 _ **Tea Time**_

Effie didn't call out when she came home, her mind still focused on all the problems she had been forced to deal with at the Justice Building that day. Being a secretary certainly had never been on her list of dream jobs but it kept her busy. They didn't really need the money, not with Haymitch's victor stipend and the profits they made by selling the geese's eggs, but she had been homeless when she had finally run to Twelve and she intended to never go back to that. Besides, being a stay-at-home dad suited Haymitch perfectly. He enjoyed it in ways that would have her absolutely frustrated. She loved their daughter but she also loved being in contact with other adults – something Haymitch wasn't keen on.

She hung her coat and her scarf on the rack, her lips stretching into a smile when she heard Oria's high-pitched delighted squeals coming from the living-room.

"Mr Grrr wants more, Daddy!"

Effie crept toward the living-room silently, discreetly peering inside… And she almost doubled in laughter when she spotted Haymitch sitting on the rug next to the coffee table, facing Oria's teddy bear, with one of her dolls on his right, while Orianna herself presided the table, tiny plastic toy cups in front of everyone. Haymitch was in charge of the teapot and very seriously pretended to pour tea to the bear, a plastic tiara on his head.

It was hard to keep a straight face when she cleared her throat to announce her presence.

"Mommy!" Oria exclaimed, immediately running to her.

Effie embraced her tight, pressing a kiss on her cheek, while tossing a knowing look at Haymitch over their daughter's shoulder. He scowled, then rolled his eyes before shrugging.

"Come have tea with us!" the four years old demanded in a tone that wouldn't suffer no for an answer.

"Yeah, sweetheart." he snorted. "Come have some tea."

She let herself be dragged by the hand and sat on the floor like a ruffian, accepting the plastic cup Oria placed in front of her. She bit down on her bottom lip to prevent herself from grinning when Haymitch poured pretend tea for her.

"Why, thank you." she hummed. "I was parched." She took an imaginary sip and complimented Oria on her excellent tea, to her obvious delight. Eyes twinkling in amusement, she flashed an innocent smile to Haymitch. "You look dashing in a tiara."

"Yeah. I think I've found my style." he deadpanned.

She shook her head and accepted one of the pretend cookies Oria handed her on a tray, finding herself roped into the game and not minding it for one second.

She used to have tea parties too in her childhood. With real delicate china and hot tea that burned when you spilled it… There were no room for errors during those playtimes… The hostess had to do everything right… Everything Oria was doing wrong right now.

The hostess should be the one pouring the tea, not the guests. Playtime or not, tea should have been served on a table with actual chairs. People should be sitting to a certain distance from each other. An assortment of cakes and scones should have been on the table. There should have been some flower arrangements. And, of course, there should have been a certain dignified attitude in regard to the whole ritual.

Her mother would have been so mad…

Effie kept her peace about it.

She had no plan of grooming her daughter the way she had been groomed. Oria liked to run outside and climb on everything – something she strictly forbade but Haymitch and Katniss always allowed behind her back – and she wouldn't stop her.

Panem was a free country now.

There were no room for perfect ladies who could flawlessly host tea parties.

Oria would be whatever she wanted to be.

And that was more than alright with Effie.


	38. Mom Isn't Allowed To Cook

Prompt: Would you mind writing a little piece where Haymitc and Oria are cooking together and Effie is just looking at them because she's not allowed to help? The photo you reblogged was too adorable.

 _ **Mom Isn't Allowed To Cook**_

"I could at least do the salad." Effie grumbled from where she was sitting at the kitchen table, a small pout on her lips.

Haymitch and Oria exchanged a glance and both looked away with the same amused smiles. It was rare to find peaceful moments in the house with a fourteen years old. More often than not, it was slamming doors and shouting and arguing… But sometimes, _sometimes_ , Oria was a in a good mood and they got their baby back for a short period of time.

Sure, he could have done without having to see the blue stripes in her blond hair but she was smiling and willing to help out with dinner and it was more than he had hoped for when she had gotten home from school.

"Mom, if someone could _burn_ a salad, it would be you." Oria snorted before Haymitch could.

Effie rolled her eyes and edged the cutting board Haymitch was using closer to her while he fetched more vegetables. "I could slice the tomatoes."

"And lose a finger in the process." Haymitch deadpanned, snatching the board back. "You just sit tight and relax, sweetheart. Safer for everyone involved."

"Remember when Mom tried to make lasagnas?" Oria piped from the counter where she was fixing the salad while keeping an eye on the stove. "We all threw up for three days straight."

"It wasn't my fault." Effie protested vehemently. "The meat was off."

"Oh, and what about the time you tried to bake that cherry cake and it exploded in the oven?" the girl laughed.

"Took you a whole day to clean that up." Haymitch chuckled. He was surprised Oria remembered that at all, she had been rather young. It had been funny though.

Effie pursed her lips, vexed but also a little amused. "You two are very cruel with me."

"Ah, but we love you anyway, Mom." Oria teased. "It's just that there's only one rule in this kitchen…"

Haymitch smirked as he finished that sentence right along with his daughter: "Mom isn't allowed to cook."

They both burst out laughing, leaving Effie to huff and puff in fond irritation.


End file.
